Video http://www.13wham.com/mediacenter/local.aspx?videoid=2523326

COHOCTON — A Steuben county girl, serving in the Army, was killed in Afghanistan by a roadside bomb.
Spc Devin Snyder, 20, who was stationed in Alaska and serving as an MP, died along with three others when their vehicle was struck by an improvised explosive device near Mehter Lam in Afghanistan on Saturday according to the Messenger Post.
Snyder graduated from Wayland-Cohocton where she was active in sports, and her friends called her ‘Twiggy’.
Her family is going to Dover to retrieve her body, funeral arrangements have yet to be set according to the North Shore Journal.

“All-American Girl” from Cohocton Dies in Afghanistan

Wayland-Cohocton, N.Y. – A small Steuben County community is grieving the loss the region’s first female casualty in the Iraq and Afghanistan wars.
“She was a girl who had the All-American looks, but the All-American personality to go with it,” Jeff Englert said of Devin Snyder whom he coached for all five years that she spent on the varsity team. “Her senior year she already knew that she was going into the military.”
Snyder, 20, grew up in Cohocton as the daughter of a U.S. Navy veteran. Her older sister Natasha is also enlisted in the Navy; her younger brother Damien joined Devin in the Army. At the time of her death, Snyder was an Army Specialist with the Military Police unit.
“Devin wanted to go into law enforcement, and so I think the military was her avenue to do that,” Julie Martin, Snyder’s soccer coach and a close family friend for decades said. “You never, never expect it to end like this.”
At Wayland-Cohocton High School, the 2008 graduate endeared herself to coaches, teachers, teammates, and friends. She earned the nickname “Twiggy” thanks to her slight stature and thin build, but her competitive spirit and drive made her a standout in soccer and track.
“Then her senior year, in a lot of our track photos, you’re going to see an Army sweatshirt on her,” Englert said of Snyder’s athletic career. “So, her senior year, she already knew that she was going into the military and she just couldn’t wait.”
Englert’s daughter Alyssa graduated in 2010 and always looked up to Snyder as a teammate and friend.
“Devin was one of our beloved track sisters and she was one of my mentors, very special and very dear to my heart,” Alyssa Englert said. “She’s the reason why I try to leave lasting impressions on the younger athletes behind me.”
As the community begins to mourn Snyder’s passing they’re also trying to comfort her family.
“The Army was for her, the Snyders have always been a military family and I commend them for that,” Alyssa Englert said. “They’re very strong people.”
Three years ago upon her graduation, that same strong family wrote in Devin’s senior yearbook what many are thinking now: “The Army is lucky to have somebody as strong and dedicated as you.”
“If I could be half as courageous and strong as Devin was I’d be very lucky,” Englert said.
Snyder’s family went to Dover, Delaware to claim Devin’s remains which were expected to arrive Monday afternoon. There is no timetable for her return to Western New York and funeral arrangements remain incomplete as a result.