Human head, hands found in Colorado freezer ID’d as those of teen missing since 2005

The caput and hands of a idiosyncratic recovered wrong a freezer astatine a location successful Colorado earlier this twelvemonth are those of a teenage miss who disappeared astir 20 years ago, authorities said Friday.

The unfortunate has been identified arsenic Amanda Leariet Overstreet, the Mesa County Sheriff’s Office said successful a quality release.

The teen, who was past seen successful April 2005, was the girl of the erstwhile proprietor of the location successful Grand Junction, astir 240 miles westbound of Denver.

Earlier this year, deputies were called to the residence connected the 2900 artifact of Pinyon Ave. for reports of a “suspicious incident.”

The caller residents of the precocious sold location said its erstwhile owners had near a freezer down for free. They past offered the appliance to different person, who went implicit to assertion the freezer and discovered what appeared to beryllium quality remains inside.

On Jan. 18, 2024, the sheriff’s bureau confirmed the remains recovered successful the freezer were those of a human.

On Friday, aft a nine-month investigation, authorities officially identified the unfortunate arsenic Overstreet, who was believed to beryllium astir 16 years aged erstwhile she disappeared.

While she hadn’t been seen oregon heard from since April 2005, the teen was ne'er reported arsenic missing, officials said.

According to Mesa County Coroner Dean Havlik, DNA investigation helped corroborate that the “human caput and forearms with hands attached” belonged to Overstreet, who was a nonmigratory of some Grand Junction and Harris County, Texas.

“The remainder of the assemblage has not been recovered astatine this time,” Havlik said successful a quality release. “The mode of decease is being investigated arsenic a homicide.”