Merril Bahe and Florena Woody grew up in starkly different conditions on an Indian reservation that crossed the borders of New Mexico, Arizona, and Utah. The couple soon engaged, and they moved into the Woody family home. In 1993, Florena started complaining of muscle aches in her back and shoulders and her doctor gave her antibiotics for her condition. Florena later died; she simply drowned in the fluid generated by her illness. Doctors had no idea what had killed her. Meanwhile, Merril Bahe started experiencing similar symptoms and on the day of Florena's funeral, he was sent to the hospital, but died on the way there. Investigators found deer mice tested positive for a new form of the Hantavirus. They determined that contact with the feces of the deer mice was what had caused the disease and that when the feces dried, the deadly microbe became airborne.