Secrets In Big Sky Country

[music] 20-year-old Ashley Loring-HeavyRunner loved the outdoors, and it is easy to see why.

She grew up on the Blackfeet Indian Reservation in Montana, a state famous for its unspoiled wilderness and wide-open horizons.

It's called Big Sky Country for a reason.

Kimberly Loring is Ashley's older sister by three years.

We're part of the Blackfeet tribe.

We grew up on the Rocky Mountain fronts on my grandpa's ranch.

The Rocky Mountain fronts are where dramatic limestone peaks rise up from the prairie.

That was their backyard.

We were always together, riding horses, just running around, having fun.

My sister Ashley was, she was very soft-hearted.

She was really kind.

She loved taking care of the animals.

Ashley was just 5'2" and 90 pounds, a tiny frame for a very big personality.

She was feisty.

She was very feisty.

Hayley Omiso also grew up on the Blackfeet reservation.

She and Ashley played against each other in grade school sports.

She was very competitive.

She was kind of a little fireball.

By high school, they were classmates with friends in common.

Every time I saw her, she was always smiling and happy and really just the light in the room, always saying crazy things and just kind of being goofy.

[laughs]

After high school, Ashley enrolled at Blackfeet Community College, the first in her family to pursue a college degree.

What did you think she was gonna end up doing with her life? What did she talk about wanting to do?

She wanted to work with the forestry.