 Oscar Ramiro Ortega-Hernandez, an unemployed 21-year-old man, left his home in Idaho Falls, Idaho on October 23, three weeks prior to the shooting. He told his friends and family that he was going to Utah for a business trip; his family reported him missing on October 31 after he failed to return. According to friends, Ortega-Hernandez had become increasingly paranoid before leaving, saying that the United States government was controlling citizens and that President Barack Obama "had to be stopped". The mother of Ortega-Hernandez's former fiancée stated that he had been well-mannered for the four years she had known him, but had recently started making bizarre statements. On July 8, he had told an acquaintance that Obama was planning to put GPS tracking devices into children and that the world would end in 2012. In September, he made a video for Oprah Winfrey, explaining that he was Jesus and asking to appear on her television show. On his 21st birthday in October, he made a 45-minute speech on various topics including a warning of the dangers of secret societies. Ortega-Hernandez had a 2-year-old son with his former fiancée; it is unknown when or why they separated.
