American Teen Who Threatened Columbine High School Found Dead Near Base of Mountain

An eighteen-year-old Florida High school student by the name of Sol Pais who threatened to attack Columbine High School in Columbine, Colorado was found dead near the base of a mountain which is 40 miles west of the school. She was found dead as a result of a self-inflicted gunshot. Sol Pais had an online handle called ‘Dissolved Girl’ in which she gave hints that she might carry out an attack. On January 15 she wrote, “My views and thoughts [are] becoming more extreme and solidified as time goes by, [I] feel like a pot of scalding water on the verge of boiling over.” Her online posts indicate that the young woman was dealing with anger and isolation. Apparently, the girl was infatuated with the massacre that took place in Columbine High School on April 20, 1999, that left 12 students and one teacher dead.

Sol’s parents revealed that they lost contact with her on Sunday and they reported her missing on Monday night. Strangely, the teenager has no criminal records whatsoever. The Columbine High School was gearing up to mark the 20th anniversary of the attack with memorials. Around this period, Pais bought a plane ticket to Denver, Colorado.  As she stepped on Colorado soil, she purchased a shotgun. On Wednesday, parents, students and teachers came to hear that the girl might carry out an attack in the school.

How did the police track her?

When Pais went missing, her parents immediately reported the incident to the Police in Surfside, Florida where they reside. The Police and investigators were provided with important information about their unstable daughter that helped them to put the pieces of the puzzle together said Chief Julio Yero of the Surfside Police department. Police officials issued warning to the public in Denver, Colorado describing the teenager as armed and extremely dangerous. Numerous schools had to shut down as a precautionary measure. An intense manhunt began in search of the young woman.

According to Sheriff Rick Albers from Clear Creek County department, Sol Pais took a rideshare to a lodge which was by a lake. From the lodge, she walked some distance and then she marched 100 yards up a hill. As per officials, she would’ve had to walk through snow, about one to four feet deep. The search for Sol, however, ended when they finally found her self-inflicted body near a stump. According to McDonald, the School Safety Director that they are used to receiving threats however, “this one felt different.”

According to Katherin DeVargas Gil, a 17-year-old who took Spanish and A.P. Studio Art classes with Sol Pais described her “kind of in a corner.” Other classmates described her as “quiet and intelligent.” Some disturbing social media posts posted by Sol Pais, however, caught the attention of her classmates and they discussed it in their first-period class. Katherin DeVargas Gil said. “I even texted my mom, crying, saying I don’t want to be here.” An online journal has been discovered with unsettling content however FBI officials are yet to confirm whether the journal was linked to Sol Pais.

It’s apparent that such threatening cases are becoming a great cause of worry and continues to traumatize parents, students and educators. It also throws light on the fact that shootings like the Columbine attack continue to infatuate young and impressionable minds like Sol Pais. Despite the culprit being caught, some parents are still not sure of sending their children to school when the schools re-open again after the unfortunate incident.