Head and hands of Colorado girl last seen in 2005 found in freezer of family's recently sold home

Body parts discovered earlier this year in the freezer of a Colorado home are those of a teenager who has not been seen for decades, authorities said. A coroner confirmed the remains were those of Amanda Leariel Overstreet on Friday.

Overstreet disappeared in 2005, although there is no record of a missing person report ever filed for her, according to the Mesa County Sheriff's Office. Overstreet's head and hands were discovered in January in a deep freezer left behind by the previous owners of a home in Grand Junction that had recently been sold. 

Overstreet, who was 16 years old when she went missing, was the biological daughter of the home's previous owners, the sheriff said. The rest of her body has not been recovered.

After the home was sold, its new owners held a garage sale to get rid of items that were still in the house when they bought it, CBS affiliate KHOU reported, citing a neighbor. People claimed a freezer from the sale and found the human remains while trying to unload other meat stored inside, according to the station. Authorities opened a death investigation Jan. 12, according to the Mesa County coroner and the sheriff's office.

The coroner's office announced Overstreet's identity Friday, after conducting DNA tests on the head and hands. She was a resident of Grand Junction as well as Harris County, Texas, according to the coroner.

Authorities continue to probe the circumstances around Overstreet's disappearance and forensic testing of evidence is ongoing, the sheriff's office said. The office did not share details about the nature of the evidence or testing, but the coroner said her death is being investigated as a homicide.

Asked whether a suspect or person of interest has been identified in this case, a spokesperson for the sheriff's office told CBS News they could not provide more information than what already appears in their news releases, because the investigation is active.

Following the coroner's announcement Friday, the sheriff asked community members curious about the case to refrain from visiting or photographing the house where Overstreet's remains were discovered.

"The Mesa County Sheriff's Office would like to emphasize that the home where the Pinyon Avenue Homicide investigation centered is now under new ownership, completely unrelated to the previous case," the office said in a social media post. "The house was purchased, fully remodeled, and sold to the current owner. We urge you to respect the current owner and their neighbors' privacy and avoid driving by the home or taking photos."

In:
• Colorado
• Texas
• Murder
• Missing Person