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Israel Keyes was born on January 7, 1978, in Cove, Utah, a small Mormon community.
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He was the second of 10 children born to Heidi Hakansson and John Jeffrey Keyes. Heidi, a third-generation American with Swedish ancestry, and John, a maintenance man, were Mormon expats originally from Torrance, California. It is believed that their deep suspicion of the American government led them to move to Utah, where their first child, a baby girl named America, was born.
No, literally.
Two years after America's birth, Israel came into the world, and Heidi continued to have more children.
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So yes, his mom was comfortable when it came to pushing.
Interesting fact: Heidi refused to give birth in a hospital due to her and her husband's disbelief in medicine. Consequently, all of their children were born at home, which meant they lacked birth certificates, social security numbers, immunizations, and formal education.
Israel and his siblings were homeschooled, primarily receiving instruction in Mormon beliefs.
He and his siblings grew up in an extremely religious family that maintained a strong sense of "us VS them" mentality, seeing anyone outside their church or different from them as outsiders.
The kids' education revolved around memorizing the Bible and skills such as hunting, carpentry, cooking, sewing, cleaning, and survival techniques. God, family, and self-reliance were of utmost importance.
John and Heidi had a strained relationship with their community in Cove. The neighbors quickly recognized the Keyes family as peculiar, prompting some of them to contact the authorities for welfare checks due to their perceived strange activities at home.
