21 Facts About Dusty Ellis

Sherri Lou "Dusty" Ellis was an American woman known for her involvement in the Kerr-McGee plutonium plant criminal case of the 1970s when she and her roommate Karen Silkwood became activists and nuclear whistleblowers after both of their bodies tested positive for plutonium contamination.

Dusty Ellis was born Sherri Lou Ellis in Guthrie, Oklahoma, the daughter of LouAnn and Benjamin Ellis.

Dusty Ellis's mother was a champion dog breeder and her father was a professional bull rider.

Dusty Ellis had a sister, Linda, and a brother, Brett.

Dusty Ellis got the nickname Dusty from competing in rodeo competitions as a barrel racer, where she won many prizes.

Dusty Ellis began working at the Kerr-McGee plant in Crescent, Oklahoma as a laboratory analyst when she was 21.

Dusty Ellis lived with Karen Silkwood in an apartment in Edmond, Oklahoma for around six months prior to Silkwood's death, along with Silkwood's boyfriend Drew Stephens.

In 1975, Dusty Ellis climbed the exterior wall of the Kerr-McGee plant with a shotgun.

Dusty Ellis was arrested and given one year of probation after pleading guilty to forcible entry.

Only once Dusty Ellis tested positive for plutonium within her own body did she begin worrying about her own health and joined Silkwood as an activist against Kerr-McGee.

Dusty Ellis claimed that someone had tried to break into her apartment twice and failed.

In 1980, Dusty Ellis made national news after being reported as a missing person and was feared to have been murdered, because she was writing a tell-all book about her experiences of working in the Kerr-McGee plant.

Dusty Ellis was found days later in New York City, and told reporters she was meeting with publishers.

In 1982, Dusty Ellis walked into a nursing home in Santa Fe, New Mexico with a shotgun and took 170 people hostage.

Dusty Ellis was ambushed by a worker at the home and arrested.

Dusty Ellis told police she was protesting against the nursing home after learning a resident there was being treated poorly and being denied food.

In 1985, Dusty Ellis protested against New York City mayor Ed Koch after the water in New York City was contaminated with higher than usual levels of plutonium.

In 1995 Dusty Ellis was charged for domestic abuse by her girlfriend Viola le Marr.

In 2010, Dusty Ellis was caught stealing from a local grocery store and assaulted a police officer, and she was charged with larceny and obstruction.

Dusty Ellis died on November 2,2012, after having been diagnosed with cancer a few months prior.

The director of the Guthrie Food Bank praised Dusty Ellis, stating that she had donated goods for the needy for many years.