"It's made of sapphires, which are her birthstone. It wasn't real expensive or anything, it was just a standard piece of jewelry that Angie wore all the time. It was just a part of her. She had a deep Christian belief. She had it on at the time of her death. The Navy was wonderful enough that they refurbished it. Command Master Chief Gale W. Bond just took it upon himself to clean it up."

Julie Shontere, mother

Profile:

Angela Houtz was quiet, her former teachers recalled yesterday, but when she said something, people listened.

Houtz, 27, was working as a civilian naval employee at the Pentagon on Tuesday. News that she was among the missing spread throughout Maurice J. McDonough High School in Charles County, where teachers remember her well even though she graduated in 1992.

She was the class salutatorian, and her picture still hangs on the school's wall of fame.

"She's someone whose face I remember, and I've taught thousands," said Jane Scanlan, an English teacher. Yesterday, Scanlan said she even remembered exactly where Houtz sat -- in the middle of the room near the front.

"Angela was always very much involved," she said. "She was very dedicated to her work. She wasn't just a good student. She was a good person."

Davis A. Rice taught her Latin for four years and advanced placement English in her senior year.

"I remember her as one of the best minds I ever taught," he said. "She was usually really quiet, but when she had something to say, she commanded the respect of her peers."

-- Nancy J. Trejos

Source: The Washington Post, AP and washingtonpost.com

The profiles in this feature were written in the months following Sept. 11, 2001.