Oklahoma tornadoes: Woman killed in Chickasha lived a vibrant life

Casey wrote a column before the presidential election for the school paper that read like a confession of a schoolgirl crush for President Barack Obama.

“There's such wit there that you start out and you're dying laughing, and then all of a sudden she's giving you serious stuff,” Casey said.

Heather Jay, who was also a communications major at USAO, said she took all of her writing advice from Short and envied her best friend's style.

Short told Jay she had important news to tell her and they planned to meet up later this week to catch up after five long months apart.

Jay said the big news was about a man Short had met in Australia who had stolen her heart.

“It wasn't surprising to me,” Jay said. “If she wanted to do something she just went for it. She found a way to make it happen.”

Funeral arrangements haven't been made yet as Short's friends are trying to find a way to get here from Australia.

Short's home was destroyed by the tornado, but her mother, who was home with Laron when the storm hit, was not injured, her friends said.

“How do you recuperate from losing everything you've got and then on top of that you lose your only child?” Case asked.