Sometimes we do not realize that an event that takes place on the other side of the United
States has a tie close to home. Fox 13 has reported that a woman from Uintah County is
being recognized for being a calming presence for her youth group that was meeting
when the shelter-in-place order was issued during the mass shootings in Maine on
October 25th. Cindi Braby grew up in Vernal and went to BYU before moving to Maine.
On the night of the shooting she was with the Young Women’s group at the Church of
Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. The meetinghouse is less than seven miles away from
the two shooting locations. The community is small, which made the waiting “unnerving”
as there was a high probability that there would be names that were familiar to everyone
and the killer’s location was unknown. Braby is credited with helping the youth handle
that difficult and scary situation.
