In the summer of 1997 or 1998, Israel Keyes was down at the Deschutes River in Maupin, Oregon. He had been stalking a teenage girl from among the trees, while she was tubing down the river with her friends.
Keyes proceeded to violently sexually assault the girl, at knifepoint. He had planned for her to be his sacrifice for the Satanic ritual, but backed out, confessing to investigators later that he was "too timid" and "not violent enough"; releasing her back to her tube in the river.
Keyes quickly moved out of the area and on July 9, 1998, he enlisted in the United States Army in the state of New York, where he served as a Specialist in Alpha Company, 1st Battalion, 5th Infantry, 25th Infantry Division. He passed a month-long preliminary course for United States Army Rangers training. He was stationed at Fort Lewis and Fort Hood, also spending some time abroad. While stationed in Sinai, Egypt, Keyes befriended several soldiers, informing one of them that he would "like to kill" him.
(I personally do not understand how someone with his mentality would be able to serve in the military, but I am also sure he could easily manipulate the system to get what he wanted... which was quite obvious when you see the number of victims he left in his path!!!)
While at Fort Lewis, Israel Keyes military friends stated he was quiet and mostly stayed to himself; but on weekends he would drink heavily. In Fevruary of 2001, he was arrested in Thurston County for a DUI. He plead down and paid a fine.
Keyes was awarded an Army Achievement Medal for his service as a gunner and assistant gunner from December 1998 to July 2001. He was then honorably discharged and relocated to Neah Bay, Washington.
Once in Neah Bay, Washington, Israel Keyes would live on the Makah Reservation on the Olympic Peninsula. He dated and had a child with a woman who lived on the reservation; they eventually went their separate ways.
In 2007, Israel Keyes was living in Anchorage, Alaska. It was here that he started a construction business called Keyes Construction, while working as a handyman, contractor, and construction worker. When it came to his work, he was cinsidered to he skillful and tristworthy, but most females who encountered him claimed he made them feel "uncomfortable".
***It should be noted that Israel Keyes also had ties to New York; he owned 10 acres and a dilapidated cabin in the town of Constable.***
To be continued...