Keith Morrison

And she was especially lovely that night with her pale Irish skin and her luxurious head of black hair.

Back home, Michelle had just unwrapped an early high school graduation gift, a brand new blue Mustang.

She loved that car.

Loved downshifting its V6 engine on the winding high desert roads near their home in Palmdale, 70 miles north of L.A.,

And she was galloping ahead like the car's famous logo.

She was going to be a somebody.

She was already on the dean's list at Antelope Valley Community College.

It's like she did everything right.

I think for an 18-year-old, she was pretty well steered in the right direction.

So she was very focused.

That's Michelle's proud dad, Mike O'Keefe.

Mike told me she'd been a cheerleader, and not just in her high school squad either.

Mike figured she'd cheered up the whole world around her.

That's Michelle's mother, Pat, the day I drove up to Palmdale to ask about her daughter.

Pat's face lit up.

Her dark eyes sparkled as we stood around in her kitchen and she talked about the daughter who felt like a soulmate, too.

Back up a little bit.

She started college in seventh?

What do you mean?

Michelle was all set to get her associate's degree in the spring at the tender age of 18.