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Woman hails slain trooper

NAZARETH, Pa. - A woman whose estranged husband shot and killed a state trooper said the trooper was a hero for coming to the rescue of her 9-year-old son.

NAZARETH, Pa. - A woman whose estranged husband shot and killed a state trooper said the trooper was a hero for coming to the rescue of her 9-year-old son.

"Trooper Joshua Miller traded his life for the protection of my son's and very well may have saved numerous other lives," Susan Autenrieth said in a written statement, her first since Miller died in a shoot-out with her husband, Daniel.

After arguing with his wife Sunday night, Daniel Autenrieth, 31, kidnapped their son, Trevor, and led police on a 40-mile chase into the Poconos, then opened fire as troopers rushed his car. Autenrieth and Miller died, and another trooper was wounded.

Miller, 34, whose funeral is tomorrow, and Trooper Robert Lombardo, 35, have been hailed for distracting Autenrieth while other officers whisked the boy to safety. "Both of these law enforcement officers are forever to be heroes in our minds," Susan Autenrieth wrote in a statement sent this week to news organizations.