On October 8, 2014, Samantha Rae Monden, 30, was shot to death beside Interstate 35 after a chaotic standoff that began at the Plaza Inn motel in southeast Oklahoma City. Born February 28, 1984, in Odessa, Texas, she had trained and worked as a licensed practical nurse and left behind a husband and two young children. Family members said she had moved out of her parents’ home about three weeks before the shooting after a falling-out.

Officers were summoned by a 911 call around 3:42 p.m. reporting a woman had been drugged and held hostage. When police reached Room at the motel about 35 minutes later, five adults were present, including 39-year-old Shane Leon Rhea. According to reports, Rhea opened fire when officers knocked, wounded two sergeants and a man inside, then forced Samantha out onto the I-35 service road as a hostage. He fatally shot her at close range; an officer then shot Rhea, who was critically injured. The medical examiner ruled Samantha’s death a homicide from a contact-range gunshot wound to the head.

Rhea was arrested on multiple felonies including first-degree murder, kidnapping and counts for shooting at officers; other motel occupants were arrested on lesser warrants or possible drug charges. What is still unclear about that afternoon that would help explain how Samantha came to be at the motel and involved with those present?