The search for a South Florida woman who was allegedly "infatuated" with Columbine and threatened violence just days ahead of the 20th anniversary of the attack ended after she was found dead Wednesday, FBI officials said.
The search for Sol Pais, an 18-year-old Miami Beach high school student who lived in Surfside, ended near Mt. Evans outside Denver, officials tweeted.
"We can confirm that Sol Pais is deceased," FBI Denver tweeted. "We are grateful to everyone who submitted tips and to all our law enforcement partners for their efforts in keeping our community safe."
Jefferson County Sheriff Jeff Shrader told reporters Pais was found dead from an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound.
Pais had flown to Colorado on Monday night and bought a pump-action shotgun and ammunition, the FBI and the sheriff's department said.
"It's like a bad dream," Pais' father told NBC 6 Tuesday. "We don't know, we don't have any idea."
All classes and extracurricular activities for about a half-million students in the Denver area were canceled as a precaution. Sheriff's spokesman Mike Taplin said the young woman's threats were general and not specific to any school.
"This has become a massive manhunt ... and every law enforcement agency is participating and helping in this effort," said Dean Phillips, agent in charge of the FBI in Denver, said before she was found dead.
The FBI had said Pais was "considered to be extremely dangerous" and "made threats to commit an act of violence in the Denver metropolitan area" ahead of Saturday's anniversary of the 1999 shooting at Columbine High School that killed 13 people.
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The FBI described Pais as "infatuated" with the Columbine school shooting.
Authorities said Pais was last seen not far from Columbine — in the Jefferson County foothills outside Denver — in a black T-shirt, camouflage pants and black boots.
Because of the threat, Columbine and more than 20 other schools outside Denver locked their doors for nearly three hours Tuesday afternoon, and some canceled evening activities or moved them inside.
"We always have heightened awareness close to high-profile anniversaries like this," said Patricia Billinger, a spokeswoman for the Colorado Department of Public Safety.
In Pais' hometown of Surfside, Police Chief Julio Yero asked that the family be given "privacy and a little time to grieve."
"This family contributed greatly to this investigation from the very onset. They provided valuable information that led us to Colorado and a lot of things that assisted in preventing maybe more loss of life," he said.
Two teenage gunmen attacked Columbine on April 20, 1999, killing 12 classmates and a teacher before taking their own lives.
