5 suicides jolt southern Utah

"All I ever wanted to do was make all of the people I care about proud and I realize that it will never happen," she wrote. "I'm sorry if you feel any pain with me passing away, but look at it this way, I was causing more pain while I was alive."

Today few items remain from Katherine's life. There are her ashes, some suitcases of clothes and a plastic box full of memorabilia.

The box contains the girl's wallet, covered with duct tape and SpongeBob Band-Aids. She kept a Linkin Park ticket stub from a concert at the E Center, a few gift cards and a bunch of friends' phone numbers.

In her scrapbook are pages of photos, stickers, hand-drawn tributes to her favorite rock and rap musicians and a delicate paper announcement that reads: "In Loving Memory of Stephen Cannistraci."

The photos and keepsakes are dark reminders of the young woman who seemed to follow two friends — Stephen and Brandon Cannistraci — who chose suicide as a way out of a troubled life.

"I think in her own way she was depressed, especially when she heard about Stephen's death. Things just went downhill from there," said her foster mother, Jenny Stefanoff.

Katherine began hyperventilating frequently after that, even to the point of having to go to the emergency room. Her drug and alcohol counselor, though, taught her ways to get through these attacks, and one of the ways she soothed herself was to sing "You Are My Sunshine."

Katherine knew Brandon and Stephen Cannistraci from when they all lived in East Carbon — and to understand the dynamic of the friendship, and the relevance of the incident that immediately preceded Katherine's death, one must understand the dynamic of Carbon County.

"Kat," as some called her, was the baby of her family and had a squeaky little voice that belied a tough-girl persona. She was small for her age, and young too. She loved Winnie the Pooh.

She was born in East Carbon and raised in the community of 1,400. She went to preschool with the same classmates she joined in high school. Parents went to school together, too, generation after generation in the shadow of the Book Cliffs.

So it was a shock for Katherine to be uprooted and sent to live with a foster family in nearby Price, 21 miles northwest of her hometown.

Katherine's home life had been chaotic. Nine months earlier, her mother had kicked her out of her house. In April 2004, the state Division of Child and Family Services placed her in foster care with Ron and Jenny Stefanoff in Price.

Price is not East Carbon.

East Carbon High is closed now, but student loyalty to the school was fierce. The prospect of returning there kept Katherine going.