Jan. 20--The McHenry County teenage girl who was reported missing last week has died in what authorities are calling a murder-suicide at a home in Phoenix.
Authorities in Arizona and the girl's family have identified her as Faith Kies, 16, of Woodstock.
Kies was a sophomore at Woodstock North High School, where officials were offering counseling Tuesday for those mourning her loss.
Authorities said the man Kies left home with, Alexander O'Neill, 24, shot her before taking his own life. O'Neill was found dead of a gunshot wound at his parents' Phoenix home at the same time Kies was found critically wounded late Friday, police said.
Phoenix police confirmed Faith Kies was pronounced dead at 6:41 p.m. Saturday in a local hospital. The girl's father, Kenneth "Stormy" Kies, said his daughter's organs were donated to at least seven people.
Stormy Kies said he does not believe his daughter was taken by force or that O'Neill, whom he called a family friend, would have harmed her. He said the family knew O'Neill for about two years. While mourning his daughter, Kies said he didn't want O'Neill to be "portrayed as a maniacal stalker."
Phoenix police Sgt. Vincent Lewis said his agency had been alerted Friday by the McHenry County Sheriff's Department that O'Neill and Faith Kies were likely headed to his parents' home.
After checking earlier Friday evening at the home for O'Neill's pickup truck, police returned about two hours later and spotted the vehicle, they said. Detectives were questioning O'Neill's parents outside the home when they heard two gunshots from inside, police said. O'Neill and Kies were found shot after police entered the home.
Lewis said O'Neill's parents told police they believed the girl was 18 and had not expected them to arrive at their home that night.
Kies is remembered by her parents as an aspiring artist with a "sparkling personality" who would help anyone in need. She loved Comic-Con and enjoyed running marathons with her family. Her mother, Sue Kies, called her "fun-loving and exhilarating" and said she had plans to travel to China this summer.
"Her smile was infectious," Stormy Kies said. "On her worst day, if she saw somebody feeling bad she would do her best to make them smile. ... She meant a lot to all of us."
"She was my best friend, my baby," Sue Kies said of her daughter, who is also survived by siblings Windy, 22; Connor, 17; and Savannah, 18.
Her parents said they last saw her when she went to bed at about 11 p.m. Wednesday. The next morning she was gone, with a note left on her bed that read, "Don't try to come find me. I'm safe," her parents said. There were footprints in the snow outside her second-story bedroom window.
Her father said he believes O'Neill came to the house with a ladder and that his daughter, of her own will, climbed down.
"I don't want Alex to be portrayed as a maniacal stalker ... that (he) climbed up to her window in the middle of the night and took her," Stormy Kies said. "My daughter made a choice."
Jacqueline Keidel, spokeswoman for the Donor Network of Arizona, confirmed that Faith Kies' organs have been recovered for donation and praised her for her "ultimate gift."
"It's hard to think about such a young woman passing away. ... This is something that at least brings some form of hope in a situation that is so terrible," Keidel said. "I hope (her parents) feel that way. I hope they are very proud of what she was able to do for other people."
Keidel said Kies' family told her they chose to donate her organs because they knew it's what she would have chosen to do. Keidel said it appeared that Kies' liver was going to be donated to a baby less than 1 year old.
Kies' family named her Faith because she was born weeks premature and "every last bit of faith is what it took to get her home and get her with us," Stormy Kies said.
Funeral arrangements are pending.
Amanda Marrazzo is a freelance reporter.
