Remains from 1973 Colorado cold case identified, "suspicious circumstances" surrounding death
The remains from a 1973 cold case in Colorado have been identified. Weld County Sheriff's Office cold case detectives have identified the human remains as those of Roxanne Leadbeater.
The remains were discovered near the bank of the St. Vrain River north of Highway 66 and four miles west of Platteville on Nov. 19, 1973. That's about 40 miles northwest of Denver.
Fast forward 48 years to 2021 when Cold Case Detective Byron Kastilahn took a closer look at the investigation and thought genetic genealogy might identify the Jane Doe. He found where her remains were interred in Linn Grove Cemetery in Greeley. In April 2022, her remains were exhumed to obtain usable DNA for genetic genealogy.
Less than two years later, in February of this year, CBI Forensic Genealogy Analyst, Melissa Kraker, provided a genetic genealogy report showing evidence that Jane Doe was likely Roxanne Colleen Leadbeater but her parents and brother were deceased. The closest living relatives were her first cousins.
The cousins said they were not close to Roxanne because she lived in a different state but did remember she went missing in 1972 when she was 15 years old. The cousins told investigators that Roxanne had no connections to Colorado and didn't know of any reason why she would be there. They said the family didn't know whether Roxanne was kidnapped or ran away.
The cousins told investigators that around the time she went missing, they believed she and her family were living in the Los Angeles area, maybe around Redondo Beach. None of the agencies in that area, including the Redondo Beach Police, Huntington Beach Police, Inglewood Police, Hawthorne Police, Los Angeles Police, and the Los Angeles Sheriff's Department, had any record of Roxanne being reported as a runaway or missing person.
One of the cousins agreed to provide DNA to CBI to confirm her relationship with Jane Doe. On Dec. 3, Kraker provided a genetic genealogy report confirming that Jane Doe was Roxanne Leadbeater based on the kinship comparison with the cousin.
"This case highlights the importance of preserving evidence, even for decades-old crimes," said CBI Director Chris Schaefer in a statement. "Advancements in DNA technology have given us a powerful tool to help solve cold cases and bring long overdue answers to the families of victims who were never forgotten."
There are still some unanswered questions surrounding her disappearance. Because she went missing from the Los Angeles area and was found deceased in Weld County under what investigators said were suspicious circumstances, and her cause and manner of death are unknown, the case remains an active investigation.
"This is our oldest cold case; I am glad Roxanne has finally been identified, and some of her remaining family members have gotten answers about what happened to her. Going forward, I hope to discover what events led to her death, and how she ended up here," said Kastilahn in a statement.
Additional Information from the Weld County Sheriff's Office Cold Case detectives:
If you have any information about Roxanne Leadbeater, or the details surrounding her death please reach out to Detective Kastilahn at (970) 400-2827 or email him at bkastilahn@weld.gov. You can also call our tip line at (970) 304-6464 or email your tip to crimetips@weld.gov. All individuals are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty in a court of law.