On Monday, the Federal Bureau of Investigations announced that they believe that Israel Keyes was responsible for the death of as many as 10 people prior to the grisly murder of Samantha Koenig in February 2012.
The FBI released a revised timeline on Monday that encompasses a period from 1997 until February of 2012. In it, the FBI lays out dates of travel and possible criminal activity on the part of Keyes.
The timeline provided by the Bureau shows that Keyes, even before committing his first homicide, was responsible for an unreported sexual assault of a young woman between the age of 14 to 18 on the Deschutes River. The girl was abducted in the late afternoon or early evening while her and her friends were tubing down the river. Keyes was living in Maupin, Oregon at the time.
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Then, in 1998, Keyes joined the U.S. Army and in July of 2001, Keyes was discharged. It was that same year that the FBI states that Keyes committed his first murder, although the identity and the location of that victim is currently unknown.
Keyes admitted to committing another homicide between July of 2001 and 2005. He told authorities that he murdered an unidentified couple in Washington state. Keyes would not disclose whether the couple was married or what their relationship was to each other. It is also unknown if the couple were tourists to the state or where they resided. But, Keyes alluded to the fact that the two victims were buried in a location near a valley. The FBI believe that Keyes moved the victim’s vehicle far from the scene of the actual crime.
Keyes admitted to two additional murders the following year during the summer/fall months of 2005-2006. Keyes told authorities that he had disposed of the bodies of the victims using his boat, and weighing the victims down with anchors to keep them submerged. One of the victims, according to Keyes was disposed of in Cresent Lake in Washington state. The identities of these two victims are also unknown, and like the earlier case, the vehicles were moved some distance from the scene of the actual crimes.
It was in March of the following year that Keyes moved to Anchorage, Alaska arriving there on March 9th, 2007. He stayed in state for over a year before traveling once again in late October of 2008. During that trip out of state, Keyes is believed to involve himself in criminal activity.Keyes rented a PT Cruiser in Seattle after spending time in Arizona and North Dakota. Keyes also flew to Boston from Seattle. The FBI is looking for more possible information on that trip. Keyes returned to Anchorage on November 5th.
It was in the second week of April 2009 that Keyes says that he abducted a female victim from a state along the east coast and killed and disposed of her body at a location in upstate New York. Although Keyes owned property in Constable, New York, the FBI does not believe that her body was buried at that location. Keyes stated that the date of that murder was April 9th. The very next day, Keyes admitted to robbing a bank in Tupper Lake, New York. Immediately after the robbery, Keyes told authorities that he spent several hours at a campground nearby.
The FBI is aware of a trip taken by Keyes from July 9th to July 12th of 2010, when he flew from Anchorage to Sacramento, California. When he arrived there, Keyes rented a black Ford Focus whiuch he used to travel 280 miles in the next 3 days. During that time, Keyes had gone to Auburn, California. Little else is known about that trip and the FBI is seeking more information from the public as to Keyes’ activity at that time.
It was in April or May of 2011 that a couple at a park near Point Woronzof, unbeknownst to them, had a close call with death when they were targetted by Keyes to be his next victims. But, the arrival of a police officer at the location caused Keyes to abort his plans. He instead decided to kill the police officer, but that plan was thwarted as well when another officer arrived on the scene.
According to the FBI timeline, Keyes planned to abduct another victim in May of 2011 when he staked out a location at the North Fork Trailhead in Eagle River. He told authorities that he had prepared the scene with Drano and a shovel to dispose of the body at that location, but according to Keyes, he did not follow through with his plans. No reason was given for the failed attempt.
It wa the very next month, in June of that year, that Keyes traveled to Chicago from Anchorage. He rented a vehicle there and drove to Essex, Vermont. It was on June 8th, according to Keyes, that he abducted and murdered Bill and Lorraine Currier. After killing the couple, Keyes informed the FBI that he disposed of the weapon at the Blakes River Reservoir. The FBI recovered the murder weapon and a cache left by Keyes at a nearby location. Keyes traveled around the east coast before returning to Chicago and flying to San Fransisco, spent one night there and returned to Anchorage.
Then, on February 1 of 2012, Keyes abducted Samantha Koenig from her work at a coffee kiosk, raped and strangled her in his shed, and disposed of her remains in under the ice of the frozen Matanuska Lake. He left Anchorage the very next day. He flew to New Orleans where he boarded a cruise until February 11th. After completing that cruise, Keyes drove to Texas where on February 16th, he set a home on fire in Aledo, Texas then robbed a bank in Azle, Texas. Although Keyes did not admit to a killing in Texas, the FBI believe that he may have been responsible for a homicide there during that time.
Keyes was apprehended when he was pulled over in Texas with rolls of cash, a robbery disguise and Samantha Koenig’s debit card.
Keyes also provided the FBI with information about another abduction and murder of a female with pale skin who drove an older car and possibly had a wealthy grandmother. He told authorities that he moved the body to a location and posed the body to look like an accident. His plan worked, the body was discovered and the female’s death was ruled accidental.
The FBI is also looking into the possiblity that Keyes has abducted and killed outside of the United States and is looking for information on Keyes travels into Canada. While living in New York, Keyes was close to the border with Canada and may have made multiple trips across the border then. The FBI also provided additional dates of international travel that included these dates:
- 04/20/2005 to 04/25/2005 British Columbia
- 10/3/2001 to 10/31/2005 Belize
- 03/01/2007 to 03/09/2007 Canada (drove to Alaska)
- 04/24/2007 to 05/04/2007 Mexico
- 12/11/2008 to 12/25/2008 Mexico
Keyes, at the age of 34, killed himself in his cell on December 2nd, 2012, he slit one of his wrists and strangled himself with his bedding while in segregation at the Anchorage Jail. His death ended his criminal cases. But, the investigation into additional possible crimes committed by Keyes continues.
The FBI continues looking into Keye’s past and ask that anyone with additional information about the man to contact them at 1-800-CALL-FBI.