Slain Fitness Instructor's Pilates Studio to Open

The studio that a slain fitness instructor planned to open the week she was killed is now full of equipment.

Friends and family of Susan Loper say it was her dream to open her own studio. She taught Pilates for 16 years at Gleneagles Country Club in Plano.

Her former boyfriend, Terrance Black, is accused of abducting Loper, beating her to death and leaving her body on the side of the Dallas North Tollway.

"We tried to match it up to what she wanted," said David Greene, CEO of Willow Bend Fitness. "There was tape on the floors on how she had it lined up and organized."

The studio now bears her name.

"I guarantee she would be overwhelmed with excitement," Greene said. "It was her baby. Just being a part of it is really neat."

Greene owns the gym where the studio is located. He has worked with one of Loper's fitness instructor friends to get the studio up to speed.

"Equipt Pilates is her company, so we kept the name. Her family wanted us to do that," he said.

They also added Loper's name to the logo.

"I know a lot of her clients, when they come in and see the place, you can tell they don't know what to say, but just sit back and look," Greene said.

He said he has no doubt that Loper is looking down and smiling.

"She'd be ecstatic," he said.

Equipt Pilates opens June 6. It will donate 10 percent of its profits to a fund set up for Jake Loper, Susan Loper's 7-year-old special needs son.


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