American Predator: The Hunt for the Most Meticulous Serial Killer of the 21st Century

Content Warning: This section of the guide references extremely distressing themes, including drug abuse, violence against children, sexual abuse, abduction, gun violence, rape, murder, and desecration of corpses. Additionally, bigoted, racist, and misogynistic beliefs are expressed by the serial killer and members of his family.

Now that Samantha’s body had been recovered and her family had answers, the investigators could turn their attention to uncovering the truth of Keyes’s previous crimes. They believed Keyes had killed before and now they needed to prove it, securing justice for the families of his other victims.

Payne and his team had hard drives copied from the two computers in Keyes’s home and cell phone records, but they still had to track down financial and travel records. They also set up a tip line, and received some leads. Keyes left an “overwhelmingly positive” impression on the people who called in, mostly his construction clients (138). They described him as polite, friendly, trustworthy, and notably good with his daughter when she came to work with him.

However, some online sleuths dug up a Facebook page Keyes had run under an alias, with a military photo of himself. Among other things, it was discovered that Keyes had attempted to sell a Glock .27 for $350 in Utah on March 11th, only two days before his arrest.