Navy veteran among six who died in tornado at Edwardsville Amazon facility
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Tornado hits Amazon warehouse in Edwardsville. Six people killed
Here’s coverage of the aftermath storms that struck the metro-east in December 2021
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When Clayton Cope was a kid, his sisters said he was a goofy prankster. Alexandra Cope, 31, said one of her little brother’s favorite tricks was to hide her shoes on top of the ceiling fan blades.
“The first time it tricked me really good, but after that, they were always in the same spot,” she said Tuesday morning.
Clayton Cope, 29, was one of six people who died at an Amazon facility in Edwardsville on Friday after a tornado swept through the area.
As an adult, Clayton Cope joined the military, which Alexandra Cope said changed his demeanor a little bit, but he always kept a wonderful sense of humor.
“He was a good big brother,” said Rachel Cope, 28, of St. Louis. “We clashed heads a lot because we were pretty similar. He was always there for me. He wasn’t like a bully big brother.”
As kids, Rachel and Clayton Cope would stay up late playing video games, with one of them watching out for their parents so they wouldn’t get caught -- Rachel Cope said they shared a lot of nerdy interests, and kept playing games online together as adults.
“He was very active in the community and he had a lot of friends,” she said. “We talked weekly, at the bare minimum.”
Alexandra Cope, who lives in Colorado, said when the tornado tore across Edwardsville, she was on the phone with a friend who told her the sirens were going off and that she was going to seek shelter just in case.
Later, Cope got a text from her mom saying Clay wasn’t answering his phone and if they didn’t hear back soon, they were going to the Amazon facility where he worked.
“It’s so painful just to sit and not know what’s going on,” she said.
Before he died, Clayton Cope was reportedly helping other people at the facility seek shelter. Alexandra Cope said that sounded like the brother she knew.
“He could be a little gruff at times, but he had a very tender heart and would go out of his way to help,” she said.
A Go Fund Me has been set up for Clayton Cope’s family to help pay his final expenses.
This story was originally published December 14, 2021 at 7:00 AM.
