apache2 leftover process

Hello NG,

I am experiencing some problems with apache2 on an opteron SMP system
with gentoo.

Exact server info:
Linux node1 2.6.8-gentoo-r4 #1 SMP x86_64 AMD Opteron(tm) Processor 242
AuthenticAMD GNU/Linux
apache-2.0.55, mod_php5, mod_ssl

When I do an apache2ctl stop a single apache process stays. The only
way to get rid of it is a kill -9. I think this may be also the reason
why the whole system regulary nearly crashes because of high memory
consumption.

Maybe anyone could help me with this problem.

Thanks in advance

--
Daniel Khan