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Some 300 miles away, 19-year-old Brandon Cannistraci was finishing up the last two weeks of court-ordered time in the protected environment of a "proctor" home.

After his horrific childhood, Brandon's teenage years were a series of ups and downs that included truancy, running away and substance abuse. He once led police on a high-speed chase through three counties. He got caught and ended up in the temporary care of a family in St. George and had grown close during two months with them. He'd adjusted to the family's structured routine, a curfew, and told his family he'd done a lot of soul-searching. He'd earned his GED and seemed to be doing well.

But his little brother committed suicide while Brandon was in the proctor home, and the death hurt him deeply. "It hit us all hard, but it hit him real hard," his dad, Steve Cannistraci, said. "It was just nothing that anyone anticipated."

He was set to come back to Moab to live with his father and stepmother in 10 days when he hanged himself on the bedpost in his caregiver's home.

His suicide letter began: "Call my Dad."

"I am sorry to be writing this letter for the second time. I know the first question is why?" Brandon wrote. "Dad. I am really sorry. I know it was hard with Stephen's death and all but I can't do it anymore. I really was excited about coming home to you and Tara. You two are really great parents. . . .

"To everyone I never knew cared for me thank you. All you kept me here for 19 years. I will really be a lot happier when I'm gone."

The three-page suicide note was mostly words of love and encouragement for his father and stepmother, his half-brothers and members of the family that cared for him in the proctor home. Mixed in, Brandon attempted straightforward explanations for his death.

"I am happy when I'm working and spending time with others, but when I'm alone I am so sad and lonely."

Brandon, the tough brother who loved motorcycles and snowboarding, said he wanted to go protect Stephen. "I want to see my brother and ask him why he gave up his world. I know I will be with him so I will help him not to be scared."

To his two half-brothers, he wrote: "I love you two so much and I am really sorry our childhood was full of pain and terror."

As word spread in Moab of Brandon's death — just two weeks after Mario — the community winced.

"It was so frightening for kids. We were all terrified," said Brown, the high school principal. "You heard the ambulance and then you waited for the phone call."