Meg,
Aww, thats terrible. It happens sometimes I know, but its still terrible to lose any pet thats close to your heart.
Snakes are remarkable animals for sure and for me they have the same tranquilizing qualities that aquarium fish do. They way they move is so natural and peaceful you can't help but be entranced by them.
I've lost my share of pets over the years, and I still think about them now and then. Especially those that you don't know what happened.
Like Rain, my cat of 3 years with the personality of a dog. She would swim in the pool, wade in streams, go hiking with us and then 2 weeks after we move into our rental house..disappeared without a trace.
Or Aspen, the calico I rescued from a coal mine after Rain disappeared, she mysteriously broke her back and pelvis a year to the day after I got her. I found her after 3 days in the barn. When she got x-rays, the vet said she wasn't hit by a car and it looked like someone intentionally snapped her back and crushed her pelvis. I have a pretty good idea who did it, but I can't do anything about it. Thankfully I informed the homeowners of what he was illegally doing on their property and they informed him to never come back. I think it was the friction of he and I that got my cat killed.
When you own pets, you expect early on what might happen. It's just par for the course. =/