The young man identified as the suspect in the deadly bombings that terrorized Austin, Texas, for weeks until he blew himself up early Wednesday, was the son of a woman who attended high school in the Twin Cities and college in Minnesota, according to the woman's Facebook page.
Danene Conditt, who lives just outside of Austin in Pflugerville, has among her Facebook photos one that celebrates son Mark Anthony Conditt's graduation from high school as a home-schooled student.
"I officially graduated Mark from High School on Friday," Danene Conditt wrote on Feb. 19, 2013. "1 down, 3 to go. He has 30hrs of college credit too, but he's thinking of taking some time to figure out what he wants to do ... maybe a mission trip."
Her page notes that she attended St. Louis Park High School and also studied at Gustavus Adolphus College in St. Peter, Minn.
Danene Conditt, 56, and two sisters were Parkettes, a group of cheerleaders many years ago for the Minnesota Vikings, according to the Parkettes alumni website. Both sisters still live in the Twin Cities.
The sisters lived in the 7600 block of Minnetonka Boulevard as part of the Bjerkeng family, and Danene graduated high school in 1980, said Jeanne Andersen, a longtime St. Louis Park Historical Society board member who graduated from the same high school in 1975.
A spokeswoman for Gustavus Adolphus said Conditt graduated in 1984 and lives now in Texas. A Gustavus alumni newsletter published in 2002 noted that Danene Conditt and her husband, have daughters younger than their son. The Conditts were married in Texas in 1991, state records show.
The Star Tribune left messages Wednesday with Danene Conditt seeking more information regarding her time in Minnesota and what she might say about her son.
Paul Walsh • 612-673-4482
