In a heartbreaking revelation, the recently discovered human remains found inside of a Colorado home have been confirmed to be those of 16-year-old Amanda Leariel Overstreet.
Back in January, the Mesa County Sheriff’s Office in Colorado responded to a call at a residential home which had recently been purchased by new owner.
The remains were found at a newly sold Colorado property. Credit: KKCO
The Sheriff’s Office revealed in a statement on Friday that officers made the horrific discovery of “the head and hands of a human” inside of a freezer that had been discovered by somebody who had “arrived to claim the free appliance offered by the new owner of the recently sold home”.
The property is located near Grand Junction, per NBC News.
Fast forward to October, and officials have identified the remains, revealing that they belonged to 16-year-old Amanda Leariel Overstreet, who was last seen in April of 2005.
Authorities have confirmed that Overstreet was the teenage daughter the home’s previous owner, and that her death is now being treated as a homicide. DNA analysis was used to help identify the remains.
An investigation is ongoing.
The remains were found in a freezer that had been listed for free online. Credit: mbbirdy / Getty
“The circumstances surrounding her disappearance remain under investigation, as well as ongoing forensic testing of evidence,” the Sheriff’s Office said in its statement. “There is no record that Amanda Overstreet was ever reported missing.”
Horrifically, the rest of the teenager’s remains are yet to be discovered.
Additionally, no cause of death has been reported at this time.
Officials stressed on Friday that the new owner of the property is “completely unrelated” to the case, and that the property had been “purchased, fully remodeled, and sold to the current owner”.
Wendy Likes, public information officer for the Mesa County Sheriff’s Office, told CPR News that, “We still have a lot of forensic testing that we need to do on evidence and a lot of interviews still to complete”.
“Give us some time and some grace to really figure out what happened and we want to do the best job for her,” Likes said. “A child went missing and there’s no record that anyone reported her missing, and that’s very sad. So we want to be sure that it’s a thorough investigation, that we get all the details and the facts right.”
CPR News reports that county property records state that the home was previously owned by Bradley David Imer, who died in 2021. Imer’s death certificate, which was included in the county’s property records, lists his spouse as Leanne Overstreet.
Officials are yet to specifically confirm the relationship between Leanne Overstreet and the victim, Amanda Overstreet.
