The young woman accused of triggering a shootout that left a U.S. border agent and her alleged accomplice dead was “kind and thoughtful,” according to one old friend.
Now, Teresa Youngblut, 21, is lying in a New Hampshire hospital charged with assault on a federal law enforcement officer. More charges are expected when she appears in court Monday.
The shootout Monday on I-91, about 32 kilometres south of the Canadian border, came following an investigation into Youngblut and her travelling partner, German national and former University of Waterloo math whiz Felix Baukholt.
Killed in the firefight were U.S. Border Patrol Agent David “Chris” Maland, 44, and Bauckholt. The feds alleged Youngblut started the shooting.
“This is not just shocking — it is beyond shocking,” former classmate Zane Nagel told the Seattle Times. “In high school, Teresa was kind and thoughtful.”
At Lakeside School, Nagel and Youngblut were in the orchestra and quiz bowl. She studied computer science at the University of Washington.
According to the Seattle Times, Monday’s tragedy was the culmination of a seven-month slide.
The newspaper reported that her concerned parents called cops in May to report Youngblut missing. Her parents feared that she was in a “controlling relationship” and not allowed to contact friends and family.
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The Times reported that Youngblut had packed her belongings. In addition, she took her passport and medical records and packed them into duffel bags.
Youngblut then sent a goodbye email, claiming to have moved in with a pal and changed her phone number. A Seattle Police report said she told the parents they would no longer be able to contact her.
They told cops that Teresa’s behaviour had changed, she was “deceptive” and lying about her comings and goings. Then she severed ties with her old friends. Her parents added she did not have any underlying mental health issues.
Cops couldn’t do much, but Youngblut’s parents called her behaviour “suspicious.”
The family told neighbours that “we have learned that there is a man that might be involved in this situation,” several years older than their daughter.
In November, the Times reported, Youngblut filed a marriage licence application in King County — the county Seattle is in — along with a man, 22. They listed the address of a condo; however, there is no record of a marriage in King.
What happened with Youngblut and Bauckholt between November and January isn’t clear.
But in rural northern Vermont, they had drawn the attention of locals, who told cops about the pair.
Bauckholt and Youngblut raised suspicions at the Newport City Inn and Suites, where they stayed in Room 51. He kept in the shadows, she kept her mask on.
“I did ask her to lower it so I could check her I.D., and she refused to. But we don’t push the issue when it comes to stuff like that. We just do the best we can,” Chastity Deroehn told WCAX.
The duo had claimed they were looking to buy property in the area. They were spotted by locals wearing “tactical” clothes and her gun was visible.
According to the feds, the Border Patrol pulled over Baukholt’s Prius on I-94 for an immigration inspection. At the time, the car was driven by Youngblut.
According to the allegations, WCAX said, Youngblut squeezed off two shots aimed at one of the Border Patrol agents. Then Baukholt attempted to draw his gun but, so far, it isn’t clear whether he fired.
The Vermont State Police bomb squad scoured the couple’s room and car “due to concerns with the vehicle.”
While cops didn’t locate any explosives, they did discover multiple laptops, tactical gear, including night vision goggles, a ballistic helmet, dozens of rounds of ammo, two-way radios and two cellphones wrapped in what appeared to be aluminum foil.
They also found a dozen electronic devices and a journal, the affidavit said.
Bauckholt’s now-deleted LinkedIn profile says he worked in the New York office of Tower Research Capital, the high-frequency trading firm. He joined Tower in October 2021 following two years at Radix Trading.
The German native graduated from the University of Waterloo with a bachelor’s degree in mathematics. In 2014 and 2015, Bauckholt won gold and bronze medals at the International Mathematics Olympiad.
One online report suggested that the doomed math whiz used the name “Ophelia.”
@HunterTOSun