LV native among those killed in bombings

Monday, July 25, 2005 | 11:08 a.m.

STAFF AND WIRE REPORTS

The father of the only American known to have been killed in the Egypt bombings said today he last spoke with his daughter by phone hours before the attacks.

"I told her be careful, have a great birthday and I love her," Tony Miller, father of Kristina Miller, told ABC's "Good Morning America."

The U.S. Embassy in Cairo said one American citizen was among the dozens killed early Saturday in the bombings at the Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheik.

Embassy spokesman John Berry declined to identify the victim, but family members said she was Miller, a native of Las Vegas who turned 27 on Friday. She was wounded in the blasts and brought for treatment in Cairo, where she died, Egyptian officials said.

"I don't understand these people and what they are doing to these innocent people around the world," Tony Miller told ABC. "Now they have taken my daughter. They've murdered my daughter, and I cannot understand that and I never will."

The family said she was on vacation in Egypt with her boyfriend to celebrate her birthday. Her father, who works in England, said he talked to her Friday -- she was having "a wonderful day."

He then became alarmed when he heard about the bombings and couldn't contact her or her boyfriend. He traveled to Egypt hoping to search for her and instead learned she was dead.

Ann Miller, Kristi Miller's aunt, told the Sun this morning that she spoke with her niece immediately following the London bombings July 7.

Kristina Miller was in London that day.

"She wanted us to know she wasn't anywhere near there and she was OK," Ann Miller said. "She said it was a strange atmosphere, a lot like it was here after 9-11."

Ann Miller said her niece was excited about the trip to Egypt with her boyfriend and that the two had discussed getting engaged.

"She wasn't worried at all but we were kind of scared she was going," Ann Miller said.

After seeing reports of the bombings on television the family attempted to reach the couple via cell phone, Ann Miller said.

"There was no answer," Ann Miller said. "After we reported them missing the U.S. Embassy went to their hotel and found their passports and cell phones in the room."

Unable to get an answer from embassy officials as to his daughter's whereabouts, Tony Miller set off for Egypt himself, his sister said. He was met in Cairo by U.S. officials who told him his daughter's body had been identified.

"We've all be praying that it wasn't true," Ann Miller said.

Funeral arrangements are pending, she said. A 1996 graduate of Durango High School, Miller was remembered this morning as "good-hearted" and popular by classmate Mike Fearnley.

"I don't remember anyone who didn't like Kristi," said Fearnley, now recreation program coordinator for the city of Kearney, Neb.

Fearnley recalled several occasions when Miller, who lived in the same neighborhood, would spot him walking home from school and pull over her own car to offer him a ride.

"She had that kind of personality, always trying to help out and be a friend," Fearnley said.

He added that he had seen news reports of the Egypt blasts over the weekend and had noted only one American was reported among those killed.

While he was stunned to learn that victim was someone he had known in high school, he wasn't surprised that Miller had gone to live abroad.

"She was definitely a free spirit," Fearnley said. "I can definitely imagine her enjoying that kind of adventure."

Militants set off a string of blasts in Sharm el-Sheik before dawn on Saturday, flattening the lobby of a luxury hotel and ripping through a coffee house.