Teenage girl missing from Woodstock is victim of murder-suicide in Arizona
PHOENIX, Ariz. (STMW) - A northwest suburban teenager reported missing last week was fatally shot in a murder-suicide in Phoenix, Arizona, over the weekend, according to police.
Faith Kies, 16, died in a hospital Saturday of a gunshot wound, according to Phoenix police. She had lived in an unincorporated area near Woodstock.
She was fatally shot by 24-year-old Alexander O’Neill, who then turned the gun on himself and took his own life at the scene of the girl’s shooting, police said.
At about 7 p.m. Friday, Phoenix police were contacted by the McHenry County sheriff’s office about “a possible location of a missing 16-year-old, believed to be with her 24-year-old “boyfriend.”
Sheriff’s police believed the pair “were en route from Illinois, where it is believed the suspect picked up the victim to bring her to Arizona.”
The vehicle they were thought to be driving was not seen at 7 p.m., but officers returned about around 9:15 and spotted it, Phoenix police said.
Police then “contacted the suspect’s parents through a locked iron gate outside the front door. Shortly after, two shots were heard from inside the home.”
Officers entered the home and found Kies in critical condition with a gunshot wound and O’Neill with an apparent self-inflicted wound. He died at the scene, and Kies was taken to a hospital, where she died at 6:41 p.m. Saturday.
The girl was reported missing by her parents on Thursday, Jan. 14, by her parents, who told police she likely left late Jan. 13 or early Jan. 14, according to the sheriff’s office.
The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children assisted in the investigation and information was sent to law enforcement agencies between Woodstock and Arizona, where it was believed the couple was heading, the sheriff’s office said.
Faith Kies was a student at Woodstock High School. O’Neill, a resident of Woodstock, was a friend of the family, according to the sheriff’s office.