Colorado authorities have identified remains found in a freezer earlier this year as a girl who was last seen in April 2005 when she was 16-years-old.
The Mesa County Sheriff’s Office said the new owner of the home was giving away the freezer in January, and a person came to claim it, finding the human head and hands inside.
The Mesa County Coroner’s Office said that DNA identified the remains as Amanda Leariel Overstreet, who was the biological daughter of the home’s previous owner.
“It’s incredibly sad that no one knew she was there,” sheriff’s public information officer Wendy Likes told KREX. “No one that we’re aware of knew she was missing. That no one took the time to find out where this child was or what happened to her, and that’s why we are taking the time we are taking to make sure that we answer all those questions.”
Neighbors told reporters that the previous occupants of the home seemingly left “overnight, leaving most of their belongings behind.”
Jamison Perez, who lived near the home since 1997, said he remembered seeing the girl “that she was dressed very — almost like an old lady.”
He said he remembered asking the family what happened to her. “They said that she got sent off to Texas or somewhere,” he said.
Deputies said the new owner of the home has no connection with the case. They said they are investigating the circumstances surrounding the girl’s disappearance as well as conducting forensic tests on the remains.
They did not say if they were searching the property for the rest of the remains.
