He had a gunshot wound to the head and a gun in his hand. The El Paso County Coroners Office completed the autopsy of the deceased adult female and she was positively identified as Jennifer Watkins. Investigators removed the plastic and found the dead body of an adult white female with brown hair. Case: 15-6360 Email: audrey.simkins@state.co.us. Perhaps, as one student of the murders posits, for the same reason that the Villisca murderer took such great pains to cover the faces of his victims, and then went around the murder house carefully draping torn clothing and cloths over all the mirrors and all the windows: because he feared that his dead victims were somehow conscious of his presence. What happened next marked the Villisca killings as truly peculiar and still sends shivers down the spine a century after the fact. J. Clark Cooper and Edgar Hough and Wesley Ewing, the minister of the Moores Presbyterian congregation. Other potential suspect leads were investigated as well, but no suspect was identified. Ms. Harris' body was discovered on November 16, 1969, along the road to NORAD. _gaq.push( Case: 75-2444 Homes built by Covington Homes build community, The Girl Scout Cookie Program feeds entrepreneurial and life skills, Slim Chickens spreads its wings and adds second restaurant in Falcon area, Catholic nuns bring awareness with food drive to benefit Westside Cares in Colorado Springs, From seeing to believing, Mesa Ridge basketball's buy-in to new coach created unbeaten season, 3 takeaways from Colorado Avalanche home loss to Devils; Annunen struggles, comeback falls short, LETTERS: Our trails and greenways; depressing and a disgrace, A game of chess? You can review our Community Guidelines by clicking here. After all these years, we are grateful to finally give Jennifer Watkins family the answers they deserve. In 1914, living in Winner, South Dakota, he would advertise for a girl stenographer to do confidential work, and that ad, placed in the Omaha World-Herald, would also specify that the successful candidate must be willing to pose as model. When a young woman named Jessamine Hodgson responded, she received in return a letter, described by a judge as so obscene, lewd, lascivious and filthy as to be offensive to this honorable court and improper to be spread upon the record thereof. Amongst his milder instructions, Kelly told Hodgson that she would be required to type in the nude. "My sister said that my mom was at a blind person's convention up in Denver, and so I didn't have any reason to doubt her," David said. Case: 14-8062 One of the nation's most famous cold cases occurred in Boulder when JonBent Ramsey was found murdered in 1996. He had been in the town on the night of the murders and freely admitted that he had left on a dawn train just before the bodies were discovered. A Brief History of the Salem Witch Trials. Karen Kay Johns Age: 45 Incident Date: May 21, 1991 Johns was discovered in Monument Valley Park with a gunshot wound and was apparently in her vehicle at the time of the shooting. United States, 2739 East Las Vegas Street Is comparing Colorado Springs' and Denver's homeless populations fair or unfair? Case: 82-1516 According to investigators, Watkins had been sexually assaulted and beaten to death before her body was wrapped in plastic. In 1912, a family of six was murdered by ax in the little town of Villisca, Iowa. For forensic investigations, it is used to generate highly informative leads as to the possible identity of an unknown victim or offender. Few people in Villisca believed that a man of Joness age and eminencehe was 57 in 1912would have swung the ax himself, but in some minds he was certainly capable of paying someone else to wipe out Moore and his family. If you have information on any of the persons, or cases found on this page, you are encouraged to contact CBI or the investigating agency. Learn more about this case at colorado.gov. The autopsy revealed the cause of death was blunt force trauma. Cookie Policy Mr. Espinoza, a 37 year old, was last seen on June 24, 2001, walking along South Nevada Avenue from East Las Vegas Street. The autopsy revealed the cause of death was blunt force trauma. In February 2003, her body was found in a farmer's field in Weld County, Colorado. On December 12, 1978, her body was discovered alongside Barrett Road, west of Highway 115. During the course of the investigation multiple employees and contractors working at Memorial Hospital were interviewed by detectives. Read the initial story at gazette.com. Blanche Wayne, of Colorado Springs, may have been the first victim of a Midwest serial murderer. Severt was killed in a traffic accident in 2001, and the investigation into the murder of Jennifer Watkins will be closed out as exceptionally cleared/death of offender. Destructive 'Super Pigs' From Canada Threaten the Northern U.S. Did an Ancient Magnetic Field Reversal Cause Chaos for Life on Earth 42,000 Years Ago? Additional biological evidence was collected at autopsy as well. FOHVAMP | Families of Colorado Murder Victims and Missing Persons. Learn more about this case at colorado.gov. On April 19, 1990, her body was discovered in the vicinity of Rampart Range Road and Loy Gulch Road. ['b._trackPageview'] The semen recovered from the plastic wrap and from the pants of Jennifer Watkins matched each other but were not a match to the sample collected at autopsy. Ms. Irwin, a 24 year old, was last seen on April 18, 1990 by her family. For years, police asked for help in the case. She had been shot at close range several times with a large-caliber weapon. LeBeau was unconscious with an apparent gunshot wound to the dead. Read the initial story at gazette.com. Read the initial story at gazette.com. Read the initial story at gazette.com. 2023 Smithsonian Magazine For a price, visitors can stay in the house overnight; there is no shortage of interested parties. Perhaps most striking of all, two other homes (those of the victims of the Ellsworth and Paola murders) had been lit by lamps in which the chimney had been laid aside and the wick bent down, just as it had been at Villisca. Might these killings be linked to nine other similar crimes? Read more about this case at colorado.gov. Michael Whitmon Johnson Age: 41 Incident Date: June 17, 1991 Johnson was discovered with multiple stab wounds in a field in the 2800 block of International Circle. Francisco Felix-Ochoa, a 33 year old, was last seen on May 31, 2009. Press Esc to cancel. Learn more about this case atcolorado.gov. Other information, such as age, location, triangulation between matches, and/or ancestry and phenotype (trait) predictions, were used to narrow down the possibilities before a final list of leads was produced. var _gaq = _gaq || []; Case: 87-2125 Learn more about this case at colorado.gov. Angelina Marie Sicola Age: 23 Incident Date: May 2, 2013 The body of Angelina Sicola was found in her apartment at 3807 Half Turn Road, #315. And this past November, we revealed that 22 of 58 Denver homicides in 2017 remained unsolved. Read the initial report at gazette.com. Her death was ruled a homicide. The researcher Beth Klingensmith has suggested that as many as 10 incidents that occurred close to railway tracks but in locations as far apart as Rainier, Washington, and Monmouth, Illinois, might form part of this chain, and in several cases there are striking similarities to the Villisca crime. Worse, he was also believed to have slept with Joness vivacious daughter-in-law, a local beauty whose numerous affairs were well known in town thanks to her astonishingly indiscreet habit of arranging trysts over the telephone at a time when all calls in Villisca had to be placed through an operator. Learn more about this case at colorado.gov. The U.S. murder rate jumped by 30% from 2019 to 2020, an increase . Bryan was last seen on September 8, 1982, leaving the Rainbow Motel in Colorado Springs. Genetic Genealogy uses advanced DNA testing in combination with innovative genetic analysis, sophisticated identification techniques, and traditional genealogical methods to establish the relationship between an individual and his/her ancestors. Unfortunately for Wilkerson, Mansfield turned out to have a cast-iron alibi for the Villisca killings. When we think of murders across the state's history, the first things that come to mind are now-notorious names of places, victims and killers:. < To help us improve the Colorado Cold Case web site, please send questions and comments to audrey.simkins@state.co.us. He also denied having seen Ms. Watkins before. Jamie Essig, a 30 year old, was last seen on March 9, 2011 on Candlestar Loop North, in Fountain, Colorado. Homes built by Covington Homes build community, The Girl Scout Cookie Program feeds entrepreneurial and life skills, Slim Chickens spreads its wings and adds second restaurant in Falcon area, Catholic nuns bring awareness with food drive to benefit Westside Cares in Colorado Springs, From seeing to believing, Mesa Ridge basketball's buy-in to new coach created unbeaten season, 3 takeaways from Colorado Avalanche home loss to Devils; Annunen struggles, comeback falls short, LETTERS: Our trails and greenways; depressing and a disgrace, A game of chess? Learn more about this case at colorado.gov. ['b._setAllowHash', false], John Vincent Knudsen Age: 56 Incident Date: Wednesday August 15, 2012 The victim had sustained multiple stab wounds, and was likely attacked where he was found on the Santa Fe Trail. No matter the length of time, we will always work to serve this community, and I am proud of all the Cold Case detectives throughout the last 21 years who have never stopped working for Ms. Watkins. Advertising Notice In March 2019, a Combined DNA Index System (CODIS) hit was received on the unknown DNA profile developed from the evidence collected at the autopsy of Jennifer Watkins. A search of the original case report revealed Ricky Severt, then 29-years old, was interviewed by detectives on November 19, 1999, as part of that initial homicide investigation. ['b._setAccount', '$GA_SECONDARY_ACCOUNT'], On January 22, 2011 the El Paso County Sheriff's Office received a report of two missing children. ['b._link'], Randolph L LeBeau Age: 36 Incident Date: July 13, 1995 Colorado Springs Police Department responded to a call of a person slumped over the steering wheel of a running vehicle. Multiple items of evidence were sent to the Colorado Bureau of Investigation (CBI) for analysis. Name: Bustos, Martin. Police detailed the whole case in a release that can be read below: On November 8, 1999, at approx. Here are some of the creepiest Colorado cold cases onUnsolved Mysteries: Colorado Grocery Stores Can Finally Sell Wine Effective This Week, Home Prices in Colorado Have Increased Nearly 50% in the Last 5 Years, 25 Ways to Say Youre From Colorado Without Actually Saying It, Denver Zoos Loving Tribute, After Passing of 26-Year-Old Ralph the Emu, 14 Things Coloradoans Should Be Proud Of And Embarrassed By, Fort Collins Pickle Barrel Announces Great Changes for 2023 Reopening, Colorado Law Enforcement Searching for Simon the Stolen Cockatoo, 10 Animals You Might See at Horsetooth Reservoir in Fort Collins. The cause of death was strangulation with contributing injuries of blunt force trauma. There were things about Kelly that made him seem an implausible suspectnot least that he stood only 5-foot-2 and weighed 119 poundsbut in other ways he fit the bill. Highway 115 by her family had a gunshot wound to the possible identity of unknown. 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