A high school junior, Keyes enjoyed working at the local diner in her small Colorado mountain town, a job she started when she was 14. She was at her school in Bailey when a gunman burst in and took her hostage along with five other girls. He let four go over the next several hours, and then ominously said that “something” would happen at 4:00 p.m.
Keyes’ parents had given her a cell phone on her 16th birthday; they sent her a message during the standoff: “How R U?” She quickly replied, “I love u guys.” It was the last message her parents got from her. When the 4:00 deadline hit a SWAT team broke into the room to free the two hostages. The gunman shot Keyes in the head as she ran, then killed himself. Keyes was airlifted to a Denver trauma hospital, but died in surgery within an hour, on September 27. She was 16.