Teen Stopped Home for Cookies & Was Never Seen Again – FBI Believes She Was a Hate Crime Victim

Maggie Long died more than seven years ago in a house fire inside her Bailey, Colorado, home. At this time, police believed the 17-year-old’s death was part of a crime of opportunity. But now, it appears it may have been something more sinister.

Maggie, a high school senior, stopped by her house to change and grab cookies for an after-school event but never made it back out. Exactly what happened next remains a mystery.

Per People, her older sister, Connie Long, told Dateline she became concerned when Maggie didn’t return to school. “Something wasn’t right. Maggie is very responsible and would’ve never flaked on something like this,” she said.

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Connie continued trying to contact her sister and finally returned to the family’s home. When she arrived, her gut feeling intensified. “I drove up as close as I could, and that’s when I saw the chaos – the fire trucks. Our house had burned,” she recalled.

According to People, police believed Maggie’s death was a crime of opportunity at first. It appeared there was a struggle between Maggie and the male suspects prior to her death. Before leaving the home and setting the fire, the assailants took off with stolen firearms and ammunition.

In 2021, the FBI made a statement to KCNC regarding Maggie’s death. It appeared agents had changed their mind about what the motive had been.

“The FBI is investigating the murder of Maggie Long as a Hate Crime Matter. A Hate Crime is a criminal offense against a person or property motivated in whole or in part by the individual’s bias against a race, religion, disability, ethnicity/national origin, sexual orientation, gender or gender identity,” the statement read, per KCNC.

Connie said she will never forget her sister. “The legacy she’s left behind is pretty amazing,” she told Dateline. “She left a lasting impact on people.”

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“When we get together with her friends for her birthday, I love seeing how they’ve changed and what their lives are like now,” Connie told the news program. “So many paths she could’ve gone, but hers was cut short. It’s not fair and I don’t think we’ll ever understand why. But we can’t let her be forgotten.”

There is a $75,000 reward for anyone with information leading to the arrest of Maggie’s killers. Anyone with information should call the Maggie Long Task Force tip line at 303-239-4243 or email [email protected]