Bombing Victim’s Spirit Recalled

Kristina Miller, the only American killed in last month’s Egyptian resort bombings, was remembered Wednesday as an adventurous spirit whose life was cut short by terrorists.

Miller, 27, was killed a day after her birthday. She had been visiting the Red Sea resort of Sharm el Sheik with her British boyfriend, Keri Davies, 29, who also was killed.

“We must not be weakened by this act of terrorism. We should go on with our lives as Kristi would have wanted us to,” Miller’s stepmother, Mary Miller, said during a memorial service at Canyon Ridge Christian Church.

Mohamed Abou El Dahab, a counselor sent by Egypt to help the family, vowed that his country would pursue those responsible for the bombings and would not relent in its fight against terrorism.

“We will not give in to people who are criminals and who want to dictate our way of living,” he said.

Family members recalled Miller’s independent streak and said she was having the experience of a lifetime after moving to England in January to spend time with her father before returning to school in the U.S. She had graduated with an associate’s degree in business from Irvine Valley College in Orange County.

“Let this be a lesson to everyone -- live life to the fullest and follow your dreams like my sister did,” said Stephany Miller, 21. “She was very happy.”

“She had a hungry heart,” recalled her longtime boss, Janet Kuehnert. “She was a seeker. She accomplished more in her young life than most people in a lifetime.”

Miller met Davies at her father’s firm in England. Tony Miller said he knew Davies was planning to propose marriage to his daughter and believes he did so the night of her birthday.

“I’m so thankful that she is with Keri now and Keri is taking care of her for me,” Tony Miller said.

In the attacks, two car bombs and a bomb in a knapsack ripped through a luxury hotel, an Egyptian neighborhood and the entrance to a beach promenade. Investigators are focusing on whether Islamic militants in Sinai, possibly with international ties, carried out the bombings.

The death toll stands at 64, but officials say it could increase to 88 when all bodies are identified.

Miller’s father said his daughter was the all-American girl and that he would never understand why she died.

“Kristina didn’t have anything against anybody. She was just celebrating her birthday,” Tony Miller, 49, said after the memorial service.

His youngest daughter, 13-year-old Lauryn, called the terrorists “greedy, selfish monsters.”

“Anybody who helped in the death of my sister, if they go to hell they’re lucky,” she said. “There’s no way I could ever forgive what they did. My sister was innocent.”

Miller was buried at Palm Memorial Park in northwest Las Vegas.