Photo:Kali Jean Randall/ Instagram; Idaho Missing Persons Clearinghouse/ Twitter
Kali Jean Randall/ Instagram; Idaho Missing Persons Clearinghouse/ Twitter
“She was someone with a wanderlust spirit," Meg Fischer, Randall’s cousin, tells PEOPLE, “and that’s why she came here to make this her home.”
Best is currently facing first-degree murder charges in connection with the deaths of Randall and her fetus; no charges have been filed in the death of Zeke.
“[Zeke] was just a perfect match for Kali,” Fischer says. “It was like they shared a soul. They were just at their very core so, so similar, and just so sweet.”
Zeke Best.courtesy Meg Fischer
courtesy Meg Fischer
The child, much like his mother, had an “infectious” energy, her brother Brian Randall tells PEOPLE.
“[He was] so gentle,” says Brian. “Besides looking like his mom, they were two peas in a pod.”
Kali diligently documented her journey as a mother, a wife and a jewelry maker on her social media.
In an Instagram post in August, she wrote how she enjoyed “creating sturdy heirloom quality silver pieces” for her customers, and how those pieces enable customers to “[carry] a slice of my heart on your daily adventures.”
In a Facebook post on Best’s birthday just a year ago, she described her husband as “the most unique, vivid, and enthusiastic individual.”
“Forever thankful you were born,” she wrote in the post, featuring the couple and their three dogs.
Best, who is currently being held without bond, appeareddisheveled and bereftduring a court hearing on Monday, PEOPLE reported previously. He did not say much and broke down several times as a judge read out murder charges against him.
While Best awaits his next court appearance, Kali’s family is working to keep her spirit alive as someone who, in the words of Fischer, was “gentle and kind, but strong when she needed to be.”
Her quirky nature was apparent in different facets of her life: She once named a loaf of bread “Clyde” to honor her grandfather, who was a bakery owner.
Fischer laughs as she reminisces about family games with Kali and how she would often say something funny “out of nowhere."
Brian remembers her love for the outdoors, going back all the way to their childhood in Wisconsin. Raised in a small town, Kali and her siblings would spend most of their time outside, along with their neighbors.
“We would be out in the woods just building forts,” he says. “That’s where she really started to grow on that love and wanted to be outside.”
Kali Randall and Zeke Best.courtesy Meg Fischer
Kali was looking forward to being a mother for the second time and Fischer says it was a role that “fit her naturally.”
“We feel strongly that Kali as a mother was just the absolute best [thing] for any child,” she says. “Her unborn child benefitted from the love that she was able to share.”
The family has declined to comment on Best’s mental health or the couple’s relationship.
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Brian previously told PEOPLE that he never suspected Best of being anything but “a normal guy.”
“Sometimes maybe you don’t know people,” he said.
“Her life before [the killing] — she lived fully,” she says. “The fact that so many people remember her with such fun and joy speaks to what she contributed to this earth.”
The family has set up the “Kali Randall and Zeke Best Legacy Fund” to honor the victims; donations can be made with the Community First Credit Union in Appleton, Wis., at 920-830-7200.
source: people.com
