My coverage of the Samantha Koenig disappearance was controversial at times -- especially when it came to defending a family who were under scrutiny unjustly, and undeservedly. I felt all along that someone unknown to Sam was responsible for her disappearance, and in the end Israel Keyes was arrested and charged with Sam's kidnapping and murder. Now here we are in 2014 and many are still intrigued by Keyes -- especially since he took his own life, leaving nothing but a trail of questions and only partial clues (
oh, and no telling how many victims!). He is even the topic of an upcoming episode of
Dark Minds.
Few -- or no -- people are acknowledging, however, that Samantha Koenig was the catalyst that led to Keyes being exposed. This young woman's kidnapping and murder almost takes a backseat to the horrific story of the serial killer who traveled from state to state preying on people almost indiscriminately. But had it not been for her, we'd likely not even know about this guy -- and he'd likely be out there preying on women, men and children with a thirst for death, money, sexual gratification and an outlet to calm his own inner demons.
