On June 23rd, 2016, 24year-old Eliza Reynolds and 22-year-old Sophia Costello checked in with the Rangers at Vermilion Cliff’s National Monument in northern Arizona.

They reported on their 3-day route and left contacts for feedback.

At 40 minutes, their signature appeared in the visitor log.

And at , another tourist accidentally took a picture of them against the red rocks.

This was the last confirmation that they were alive.

When they did not return to the registration point on June 26th and did not get in touch, the rangers began searching.

The camp was found in a remote part of the canyon.

The tent was still standing.

Personal belongings were scattered, but no signs of a struggle or traces of blood were found.

For 2 weeks, groups with dogs combed the area.

Helicopters were used, but no new traces were found.

The official version was missing.

The case quickly ended up in the archives.

Only seven years later, the desert returned their bodies in the form of a gruesome picture that was later called the heart of bones.

Eliza Reynolds was born in a small town near Phoenix.

At the age of 24, she was working as a bartender at a local pub and had a reputation as an open and sharp girl who was never afraid to speak her mind.

Her co-workers recalled that she could stand up for any of her friends, but at the same time, she often got into arguments with customers, especially when it came to discrimination.

Sophia Costello was different, quiet, and focused.

She studied environmental science at Northern Arizona University and dreamed of working in environmental projects.

Her classmates recalled that Sophia always had field notebooks with her and made sketches of plants, even during breaks.

Her life changed dramatically after meeting Eliza.

For the Costello family, this connection came as a blow.

Sophia’s parents were deeply religious Catholics, visiting the local parish several times a week and trying to raise their daughter in a strict traditional framework.

When it became known that she was dating a woman, the family actually turned away from her.

Neighbors recalled that quarrels in the Costello house could be heard even on the street.

the father’s screams, Sophia’s crying, and the slamming of doors.

In 2014, after a particular argument, Sophia packed her things, and finally left home.

She settled with Eliza in Flagstaff.

They rented a small apartment in the old part of town, paying the rent out of Eliza’s salary because Sophia hadn’t finished her studies yet.

The girls stuck together, did not have a wide circle of friends, and rarely attended family gatherings.

Sophia’s mother sometimes tried to call, but her father categorically refused to even hear from his daughter.

In his testimony, he later repeated, “Eliza spoiled my Sophia.

She took her away from God.” This wording became a characteristic detail for the police when they began to analyze all possible motives and suspicions.

Despite the conflicts, the girls lives had their own rhythm.

Eliza worked in the evenings.

Sophia studied during the day.

They planned trips together, but because of money and studies, they rarely went beyond the outskirts of the city.

Their biggest shared hobby was hiking.

Every weekend, they would go on small hikes in the Flagstaff neighborhood.

For Sophia, it was also part of her studies.

She collected soil samples and took notes on the flora.

For Eliza, it was a way to get away from her night shifts at the bar.

When they decided to go on a big three-day hike to Vermilion Cliff’s National Monument in 2016, it was treated as a special event.

They planned it in advance.

Sophia developed the route, marked water sources, and Eliza bought a new tent and gas burner.

Their friends recalled that the girls were excited and said that this hike would be a symbolic new stage for them.

When they disappeared, Sophia’s mother was the first to report it.

On June 27th, she contacted the police in Flagstaff because the girls had not been in touch or responding to messages.

The case was officially registered the next day.

On June 30th, the Rangers found their camp.

The tent was still standing.

Their belongings were scattered, but not damaged.

There were no traces of blood or clear signs of a struggle.

The search operation lasted almost 2 weeks.

It involved volunteers and sniffer dogs.

Even a helicopter was used to inspect the rock formations.

The protocols state no traces of movement of bodies or a large number of things were found.

Probably the disappearance occurred directly during the transition between the points of the route.

But no new evidence was found.

There were no witnesses who saw them after the sunset photo.

nor were there any traces of vehicles or unauthorized persons in the canyon area.

The case was reclassified as missing.

Sophia’s father publicly refused to participate in the search.

In a brief comment to a local newspaper, he said, “She made her choice.

If they are missing, it is their problem.” These words became a sore point for the mother, who nevertheless went to the park for several months, putting up posters, but to no avail.

The case remained unsolved in the police archives for the next 7 years.

After unsuccessful searches in the summer of 2016, the case quickly became a cold case.

For the police, it was just another disappearance in remote desert areas, of which there were dozens in Arizona every year.

For Eliza and Sophia’s families, time stood still.

Everyday household chores faded into the background as the main question remained unanswered.

What happened to them? Sophia’s mother, Margaret, continued to live only in hope.

She kept all the newspaper clippings, kept her own notebook where she wrote down the contacts of police officers, private detectives, and journalists.

Every few months, she would call the Flagstaff Department with the same request.

Check the case again.

The answer was the same.

There was no new information.

Sophia’s father, on the other hand, avoided any discussion.

He refused to participate in volunteer searches and even at family meetings preferred to keep silent about his daughter.

For the mother, it was a double burden.

losing her child and at the same time seeing the family finally disintegrate.

Eliza’s family was different.

Her younger sister Sarah created a page on social media where she posted photos and reminders of her disappearance.

For the first year, there were a lot of comments.

People shared their guesses and helped spread the word.

But over time, the attention waned.

The last posts were left almost without any feedback, and several anonymous users allowed themselves to be offended by the girls.

The media mentioned the case only occasionally.

On the anniversary of the disappearance, short notes were published.

One year has passed since the disappearance of two young women in Vermillion Cliffs.

In 2017, there was one large article, but it repeated the known facts without any new details.

Then there was only silence.

Versions were spread on forums and social networks.

Someone wrote about an accident in the canyons.

Others assumed that the girls had decided to run away and start a new life under different names.

Some conservative commentators publicly called their union a sin and wrote that the desert took what was due for the family.

These words were like a knife.

In a conversation with journalists, Sarah Reynolds recalled, “We lived between two states of despair and hope.

In the morning, I would wake up thinking that today we would get a call and be told that they had been found.

And in the evening, I realized that the chances were getting less and less.

Years passed.

Only dull pain remained from the first shock.

Once a year on June 23rd, both families gathered at the ranger office in Vermilion Cliffs.

They brought photos and candles.

Fewer and fewer people came, but for the families, this tradition was the only way to keep the memory alive.

Officially, the case remained stagnant.

Police reports repeatedly stated, “No new witnesses have been identified.

No evidence has been found.” It was slowly sinking into the archives, becoming another desert legend.

But for the two families, every day without an answer was torture.

They did not know that even then in the depths of the canyon a terrible truth was waiting for them which the desert was ready to reveal only seven years later.

7 years have passed since Eliza and Sophia last signed the Rangers log.

For most Arizonans, their story has become just another desert legend.

But in the summer of 2023, fate took a terrible turn.

On May 29th, three climbers from Flagstaff went on an expedition to the most remote parts of Vermilion Cliff’s National Monument.

The group was led by 40-year-old Michael Grayson, an experienced climber and guide.

He was accompanied by two younger friends, Josh Miller and Rachel Duval.

Their goal was to explore several littleknown cracks in the canyon that were not part of the tourist roots.

In his testimony later, Grayson said, “We were walking along a ledge where the canyon wall turned into narrow grotto.

I was looking for a point of safety when I smelled a smell that was like burning but very old.

It seemed strange because there were no signs of recent fires nearby.

Around in the morning, they approached a small cave hidden behind an overhanging ledge.

It was quiet and cool inside.

Flashlights illuminated the dark space and then the climbers saw what they later called the most terrifying discovery of their lives.

On the stone floor was a pile of charred bones.

They were laid out in the shape of a perfect heart.

The shape was so clear that there was no doubt that it was not a random scattering but a deliberate composition.

Josh Miller said in the report, “At first, I thought it was an old altar or something like that, but when I looked closer and saw the human skulls, I threw up.

There was no clothing, equipment, or objects nearby that could explain the origin of the remains, only dark stains on the stones, similar to the remains of a fire and a small metal object.

It turned out to be a cross with crude soldering and an inscription in Latin, Vy Pekurabus.

Woe to sinners.

The climbers immediately left the grotto and called the ranger service.

The call was received at 37 minutes as recorded in the duty shift log.

The group waited almost 2 hours for the first rescue team to arrive.

During this time, they remained at the entrance without going inside.

Park officer Alan Rogers, who was the first to inspect the site, later told reporters, “Even in my 20 years of experience working in national parks, I have never seen anything like this.

It was not just a hidden body.

It was a scene created by someone, a symbol that had meaning to the person who made it.” Coconino County police arrived at the scene in the evening.

Criminologists and anthropologists were involved.

The discovery immediately caused a wide response both in law enforcement circles and among local residents.

The first task was to determine whose bones they were.

More than 200 fragments were recovered at the site.

Skulls, limb bones, and rib fragments.

All of them were damaged by fire, but an anthropological analysis allowed us to quickly determine that they were the bones of two young women in their 20s.

Their ages and heights matched those of Eliza and Sophia.

The final confirmation was to be made by comparing them with their dental records.

The work at the site lasted 3 days.

Each bone fragment was labeled, photographed, and packed separately.

The grotto was completely examined.

Metal detectors were used, soil samples were taken, and all surfaces, even the ceiling, were photographed.

No other objects were found except for the cross.

It came as a shock to the families.

On the very first day after the official announcement, Sophia’s mother told reporters, “I knew they hadn’t just disappeared.

Someone took them from me.

This is not the desert.

This is a person.

” Discussions began in Flagstaff and Paige.

Locals discussed the symbolism of the find.

Why the heart? Why the Latin inscription? Some saw it as an act of religious fanaticism, while others saw it as a sick romanticization of the crime.

The police confirmed that the death was violent and the body was burned afterwards.

The case has now been officially reclassified as a double murder.

This discovery shattered years of silence.

What seemed to be another desert legend has turned into a real crime with gruesome symbols.

And most importantly, investigators now had material evidence in their hands.

A cross that was supposed to be the first clue.

After the discovery in the grotto, the case was officially reclassified.

A note appeared in the police reports.

The case has been reclassified from the category of missing persons to double murder.

This meant that from now on it was no longer an accident or a voluntary escape.

The investigation was becoming criminal.

The homicide unit of the Cookanino County Police Department and experts from the FBI were involved.

The remains of the bodies were taken to the Phoenix Medical Examiner’s Office.

For several days, anthropologists and pathologists worked almost non-stop.

The examination confirmed that the bones belonged to two women between the ages of 20 and 25.

Their height, jaw shape, and other features matched those of Eliza Reynolds and Sophia Costello.

The final confirmation was provided by dental records kept in the clinics where they had had their teeth treated before they disappeared.

The most important thing was another.

The cervical vertebrae of both women showed injuries characteristic of strangulation with a rope or belt.

Forensic expert Dr.

Robert Evans stated the bodies were exposed to fire after death.

Death was caused by mechanical esphyxiation.

This is definitely a violent act.

At the same time, experts examined the metal cross.

The FBI laboratory confirmed that it was handmade.

The soldering was done by an artisal method without factory markings.

There were microparticles of tin and copper on the surface indicating the work of an amateur, not a professional jeweler.

The inscription in Latin vi pecurabus was unevenly but carefully engraved.

This was the first material evidence that the crime was symbolic.

The police immediately formulated several working versions.

The first one was a ritual murder linked to religious fanaticism.

The second is a crime for personal reasons when the killer sought to distort the very concept of love, turning it into a scene of horror.

The third, less likely, is an attempt to stage a crime to confuse the investigation.

For the families, the news was another blow.

All these years they have been balancing between hope and fear.

Now the doubts are gone.

Eliza and Sophia were victims of a brutal murder.

Margaret Costello could hardly hold back her tears at the press conference.

For 7 years, we have been waiting for them to come back.

Now we know the truth.

But this truth is more terrible than any expectation.

Investigators focused on the question of who could have organized such a scene.

The bones laid out in a heart-shaped were no accident.

The report states, “The arrangement of the remains has geometric clarity.

This is not a spontaneous action, but a carefully executed composition.

” It was this fact that convinced us that the killer was not only cruel, but also obsessed.

The focus of the investigation shifted to the community of religious fanatics and hermits who lived near Vermilion Cliffs.

The cross with the Latin inscription pointed to a person who not only knew the symbolism but also gave it his own meaning.

Arizona newspapers picked up the story again.

The headlines read as follows.

A heart of bones, the mystery of Vermilion Canyon.

Were the missing mistresses victims of ritual murder? The public began to discuss the possible involvement of local sex or individual preachers.

Speculation was rife on the internet.

Someone wrote that the killer wanted to cleanse the earth of sin.

Others said it was someone’s personal revenge.

But the police were cautious about commenting officially.

A spokesman for the department said, “We are considering all versions.

We have material evidence, but we cannot disclose details at this time to avoid harming the investigation.

” After 7 years of silence, the case has received a new impetus.

The symbolism of the crime and the found cross turned it from just another disappearance into one of Arizona’s most eerie criminal mysteries.

And now the main question was, who was behind this heart of bones, and why did he do it? After the case was officially reclassified, the detectives decided to start from the beginning.

All the materials from 2016 were lifted from the archives.

Hundreds of pages of protocols, dozens of interrogations, notes from rangers and volunteers.

What seemed insignificant at the time could now be decisive.

Particular attention was paid to testimonies that went almost unnoticed.

In June of 2016, one of Sophia’s neighbors, a student from the same building, reported that she had seen a middle-aged man several times at the entrance.

He stood there as if waiting for someone and once he made a scene.

Her words are recorded in the protocol.

He shouted that God’s punishment awaited her, that sin would not go unpunished.

At the time, the police did not attach any importance to this.

The report states, “No direct threats.” But now, after the discovery of a heart made of bones and a cross with a Latin inscription, this detail looked different.

It indicated that the couple could have been followed long before the hike.

Detectives began to restore the picture.

The cross found in the grotto was handmade.

There were many small religious groups in local communities in Arizona where such symbols were made by lone preachers or small workshops.

The combination of the Latin phrase and the handmade work suggested a person who consciously separated himself from the official churches and lived in his own interpretation of faith.

The archival materials also contained several calls to the hotline after the girl’s disappearance.

One man from Page reported seeing a man with a strange look at a gas station asking about two young women in a campsite.

At the time, the call was not considered credible, but now it fits in with the neighbor’s testimony.

The operatives drew up a timeline.

In May of 2016, Sophia was chased several times by an unknown man.

In June, the couple went on a hike and disappeared.

In August, a suspicious man was seen spending the night in an old trailer in the Vermilion Cliffs area.

All this information combined with the symbolic crime scene created a portrait of a fanatic obsessed with the idea of purification.

To confirm their version, the police turned to religious historians.

They explained that the inscription Vipcuribus has biblical origins and was used in harsh sermons in the Middle Ages.

The use of Latin could indicate a person who gave his actions the character of a mission.

The girl’s families followed the news closely.

Margaret Costello told reporters, “We knew there was a hand in this.

Sophia told me before she disappeared that a man had been appearing at the house.

At the time, I thought it was an accident.

Now I know it wasn’t.” The media began to spin the story again.

The words maniac, ritual, and sect appeared in the headlines.

The internet circulated versions that there was a group in the desert that was hunting for lovers.

The police refused to confirm the rumors, but did not deny that there was a religious trace in the case.

Investigators also raised materials about former preachers in the region.

There were several known individuals who had been expelled from their communities for being too aggressive.

One of them was living in a trailer near the site of the discovery, but at the time investigators did not have enough evidence to name him publicly.

It was obvious to the officers that the key to the crime was the cross.

It combined three elements at once: symbolism of religious fanaticism, handmade, and Latin inscription unusual for American sects.

This meant that he could have once belonged to a small community that existed nearby.

From this point, the investigation moved on.

Old records, a neighbor’s testimony, calls to a hotline, and a mysterious cross formed the first clear trail.

It led to a fanatic who saw the love between the two women as a sin and considered it his mission to destroy it.

When the first clues were gathered, it was time for analysis.

A group of criminal psychologists from the FBI’s Phoenix office were brought into work.

They were given copies of the protocols, photos from the grotto, and the forensic report.

The task was clear to draw up a possible portrait of a person who could have created such a scene.

The psychologists immediately noticed a combination of two details.

The careful layout of the bones in the shape of a heart and the Latin inscription vipeurabus on the cross.

This indicated that the crime had the character of a signature.

In criminal terminology, this is the name given to elements that are not necessary for the commission of a murder, but which the perpetrator leaves as part of his or her own handwriting.

The report stated, “The heart-shaped bones are not just a mockery of the victims.

It is an attempt to take the symbol of their relationship and turn it into an act of horror.

The heart as a sign of love here becomes a sign of death.

The cross with the Latin inscription had an additional meaning.

The use of Latin in the American context looked unusual.

It was not a random choice but a conscious appeal to the sacred language.

Experts explained that for fanatics such expressions can be ritualistic.

In the practice of profilers, such details mean that the criminal identifies himself not just as a murderer, but as an executive of a higher will.

Psychologists also noted control and planning.

It takes time and cold concentration to calmly lay out the bones in the shape of a heart.

This was not an impulsive attack.

The perpetrator acted deliberately, had experience in hard-to-reach areas, and confidence that no one would disturb him.

The description read, “Approximately a middle-aged man, socially isolated, possibly a hermit or former member of a religious community.

He has deep convictions about sin and punishment.

His actions are not aimed at obtaining benefits, but at realizing an ideological goal.” The team also discussed the question of whether the killer acted alone.

Some experts doubted that one person could have organized such a scene on his own, but most agreed.

Technically, it was possible, but psychologically the individualism typical of a fanatic forced him to act alone.

The testimony of Sophia’s neighbor about a strange man near the house and a call to the hotline about a suspicious stranger at the gas station also played an important role.

Now, these fragments fit into a single picture.

Someone had been following the couple long before the hike, waiting for an opportunity, and obviously perceived their actions as a mission.

For the official investigation, the main thing was the cross.

It was an artifact that could link the perpetrator to a specific group or individual.

Psychologists emphasized that the person who created this object put meaning into it and had to wear or keep it.

If they could find similar items, they would be able to find the craftsman and thus the killer.

Thus, after seven years of silence, the first real thread appeared.

The portrait of the killer was outlined as a fanatically religious man, isolated from society with a mania for purification.

And most importantly, he was not just killing, but creating a scene that was supposed to be a message.

The search for the crossmaker led investigators to the archives of religious communities in northern Arizona.

The police kept lists of small sectarian groups that had been active in the ’90s and 2,000 years.

Some disintegrated, others merged into large churches, but several centers remained little known, virtually unofficial.

In one of these archives, among the documents of the warriors of the Holy Word community, the name of the preacher Caleb Warden was mentioned.

In the mid20s, he gathered a small congregation of no more than 30 people in page.

His sermons were harsh.

He spoke out against the sin of Sodom, called for purifying the earth with fire, and emphasized that modern America had lost its way.

In 2010, the community officially renounced his leadership.

The reason was his overly aggressive statements and conflicts with local residents.

Several parishioners even left written complaints mentioning that Warden had personally made metal crosses with inscriptions that he distributed to his closest followers.

This detail coincided with the discovery in the grotto.

Investigators showed photos of the cross to two former members of the community.

both recognized the item.

One of them said, “It’s definitely his.” He had an old soldering kit.

He always said that factory-made things are soulless and that true faith requires handmade work.

After his exile, Weren settled in a trailer a few miles from Vermilion Cliffs.

He was officially unemployed, living off his savings and occasional odd jobs.

There are several mentions in police reports of the time.

Patrols saw him on the side of the road buying gasoline in cans, sometimes sleeping out in the desert.

Neighbors described him as a withdrawn man in his 40s with a dangerous glint in his eye.

One farmer said that Warden came to him several times for water and always started a conversation about sin.

He repeated the same phrase, “Sodom is all around us and God will soon wipe it out with fire.

” Another neighbor recalled that Weren hardly ever went out during the day.

He wandered the canyons at night carrying a flashlight and a backpack.

To her, he seemed like a man who lives in his own world where there is a constant war between good and evil.

Investigators began to check his past.

It turned out that in his youth, he had studied to become a seminarian, but dropped out.

Then came a series of minor arrests for fighting and disturbing public order.

Nothing serious, but each incident was connected to his sermons.

He quarreled with people on religious grounds.

In 2012, Weren officially sold his house in Paige and moved into a trailer near the national monument.

Since then, little has been known about him.

He had no social media, no contacts, and lived on the fringes of society.

For the investigators, these facts added up to a coherent picture.

A man with radical views who made crosses with inscriptions settled near the crime scene.

And most importantly, his fanatical statements almost verbatim repeated the content of the inscription on the cross found among the remains of Eliza and Sophia.

The police obtained a search warrant for his trailer, but even up to that point, he remained an almost mythical figure for the community.

Former parishioners recalled that after his exile, he disappeared into the shadows of the desert, and only occasionally did someone say they saw him at gas stations or in stores.

This was the first time Caleb Warden’s name was mentioned in the case.

For investigators, he became the main candidate for the role of the killer.

For the public, he became a ghost who had lived near the canyons for decades and never left the feeling of danger.

The search of Caleb Warden’s trailer took place on June 2nd, 2023.

A team of eight officers went to the site.

The house itself was old, dilapidated, and surrounded by weeds.

Inside, chaos rained.

Scattered dishes, books with worn covers, icons, and religious pamphlets covering the entire table.

In the back of the trailer, under the old floor, a cash was found.

It contained several items that immediately became key evidence.

These were old newspaper clippings with articles about the disappearance of Eliza and Sophia.

Each clipping was underlined with a pencil, especially those places that mentioned a mysterious camp and search without result.

They also found the girl’s personal belongings, a silver earring that Sophia’s mother recognized without hesitation, a beaded bracelet made by Eliza’s friend while she was still at school, a piece of a burntout backpack with a tag with her initials on it.

All these findings confirmed that Warden was directly involved in the disappearance.

The most terrifying thing was the diary.

It was wrapped in a cloth like a relic.

The notebook had over a 100 pages filled with thick handwriting.

There he called himself a soldier of the Lord and described how he watched over the lost lambs.

In his notes for May 2016, he wrote, “I see them every day.

They are laughing in the street holding hands.

This is an insult.

I have to show the world that love without God is only ashes.” This was followed by descriptions of the crime itself.

He wrote about how he found their camp, waited for the night, and attacked them while they were sleeping.

The diary contains the words, “I pinned them to the ground, and silence finally came.

Then I took them to the cave.

Fire destroys sin, and the heart was a sign that purification was complete.” Experts confirmed the authenticity of the records.

The handwriting matched other notes found in the trailer.

During the interrogation, Warden was silent for a long time.

He sat with his eyes down and refused to answer questions.

Only when he was read excerpts from his own diary and shown the girls belongings did he speak.

I did what I had to do.

Their union was an abomination.

After that, he described the night of the crime in detail.

He confirmed that he had strangled Eliza and Sophia and then burned their bodies, arranging the bones in the shape of a heart.

He considered this sign to be proof that God had heard his prayers.

Caleb Weren’s trial began in October of the same year in Flagstaff.

The courtroom was packed with journalists, relatives, students, and activists from LGBT organizations.

The atmosphere was tense.

In the dock, Warden looked exhausted, but maintained a cold calm.

He did not show remorse, did not look at the relatives of the victims.

Prosecutors presented evidence, the girl’s personal belongings, diary, and forensic evidence.

Former parishioners testified that he made similar crosses and constantly preached about purification by fire.

All the evidence added up to a clear picture.

The defense tried to claim the defendant’s mental disorder, but the examination found him sane.

The psychiatrists noted that he had fanatical beliefs, but fully understood the consequences of his actions.

The verdict was unanimous.

Caleb Weren was found guilty of two first-degree murders and sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.

The verdict was a double-edged sword for the families.

On the one hand, they finally received the answer they had been waiting for for 7 years.

On the other hand, this answer was more frightening than any guess.

Margaret Costello told reporters, “Now we know the truth, but knowing does not mean living with it.

My daughter has been taken from me, and no verdict will bring her back.” her husband, James, who for years refused to recognize Sophia’s relationship, sat with his hands over his face during the verdict.

Reporters noted that he was crying for the first time in public, and it looked like late, hopeless remorse.

Eliza’s mother, Carol Reynolds, said only a few words in the courtroom.

“My girl was a light, and she was extinguished.

We have to live with that.” Her sister Sarah added, “I thought there was nothing worse than not knowing, but I was wrong.

Sometimes the truth is worse.” After the trial, Eliza and Sophia’s case gained publicity across the country.

Their story was called A Legend of the Desert, an example of how the love of two young women clashed with hatred that turned into murder.

But even after the verdict, shadows of doubt remained.

Some experts said that it would have been extremely difficult for one man to arrange the bones into the shape of a perfect heart.

Did he have any accompllices? Warden himself never admitted this.

For the families, the case was over on paper, but not in their hearts.

They received the truth, which did not bring relief.

The story of Eliza and Sophia remained alive in the memory of the desert as a reminder that even the lightest love can become a target for the darkest hatred.