Oldest Cold Case in Weld County, Colorado Has Finally Been Solved

After decades of investigating, detectives with the Weld County Sheriff's Office announced that the oldest cold case in Weld County, Colorado, has finally been solved.

On November 19, 1973, the unidentified remains of a woman were discovered near the bank of the St. Vrain River. The rural location where the body was found was north of Highway 66 and four miles west of Platteville, Colorado. Due to the police's inability to identify the woman, she was called Jane Doe.

In 2021, Detective Byron Kastilahn implemented new technology to reexamine the cold case. Detective Kastilahn hoped that genetic genealogy would aid in identifying the woman involved in the 1973 Weld County case. He began by searching for where Jane Doe's remains were interred, eventually finding her in Linn Grove Cemetery in Greeley.

In April 2022, the woman's remains were exhumed to obtain usable DNA for genetic genealogy.

In February 2024, Colorado Bureau of Investigation Forensic Genealogy Analyst, Melissa Kraker, provided a genetic genealogy report showing evidence that Jane Doe was likely Roxanne Colleen Leadbeater.

Unfortunately, it was determined that Roxanne's parents and brother had passed away during the last 51 years. Her closest relatives were found to be first cousins living in another state.

Detective Kastilahn contacted the cousins and learned that they weren't very close to Roxanne and her family since they had lived in different states. However, they all remembered that she had gone missing around 1972 when she was only 15 years old. Roxanne’s cousins indicated she and her family had no connections to Colorado and did not know of any reason she would be there. They also said it was unclear if Roxanne was kidnapped or ran away.

Around the time Roxanne went missing, her cousins believed she and her family were living in the Los Angeles area, possibly around Redondo Beach.

With this new information, Detective Kastilahn contacted law enforcement agencies in the Los Angeles area, including the Redondo Beach Police, Huntington Beach Police, Inglewood Police, Hawthorne Police, Los Angeles Police, and the Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department. None of the agencies had a record of Roxanne being reported as a runaway or missing person.

One of the cousins agreed to provide her DNA to CBI to confirm her relationship with Jane Doe. On December 3, 2024, a genetic genealogy report confirmed that Jane Doe was, in fact, Roxanne Leadbeater based on the DNA comparison with the cousin.

Although Leadbeater has been identified, her cause and suspicious manner of death are still unknown. Because of that, the case remains active and ongoing. 

Advancements in DNA technology have become a powerful tool to help solve cold cases and bring long-overdue answers to the families of victims who were never forgotten.

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 the tip line at (970) 304-6464 or email your tip to crimetips@weld.gov.