A body recovered from a lake in Anchorage, Alaska yesterday was confirmed to be that of 18-year old coffee shop barista Samantha Koenig, who was kidnapped at gunpoint on February 1st as she was leaving work. The kidnapping was caught on security cameras.
34-year old Israel Keyes has been arrested as the sole suspect in the crime, and Anchorage police say that the kidnapping appears to have been random as he had no connection to the girl or her family, a fact that has rocked the Alaskan town. FBI special agent Mary Rook said, “Investigators found no direct association between the abductor and Samantha or any member of her family. I believe it was largely the dissociative nature of this crime that so perplexed investigators, at least initially.”
Keyes was arraigned on March 27th on an unrelated charge of access device fraud after he was arrested for making cash withdrawals on a credit card that wasn’t his.
“Investigators believe Samantha died within hours of her abduction,” Chief Mark Mew said. “Investigators further believe the person responsible for Samantha’s death acted alone, and we are confident that we have that person in custody.”