Body Found Was 'Not Intact,' Ridgeway Investigation Continues
Westminster Police Ridgeway Case Tip Line: (303) 658-4336 or pdamberalert@cityofwestminster.us
WESTMINSTER, Colo. (CBS4) - Police are planning a major news conference on Friday after the discovery of a body in Arvada on Wednesday night, as the search for clues into the disappearance of Jessica Ridgeway continues.
CBS4 reports that investigators have been treating the discovery as if it is the body of Ridgeway, but in two very brief news conference on the matter Thursday Westminster police spokesman Trevor Materasso wouldn't elaborate.
He said police are still hoping people will use the tip line set up in the Ridgeway case.
The crime scene Wednesday night (credit: CBS)
The body was found next to West 82nd Avenue, near Pattridge Park open space and Highway 93, about seven miles from Ridgeway's home in Westminster. It's still not clear how the body was found, and Materasso said it was "not intact."
"This is extending the length of time for the investigation to positively identify who that body is," Materasso said.
Dozens of police officers were searching the areas around where the body was found on Thursday.
Ridgeway is listed on the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children list. The following is known about her disappearance:
- Jessica Ridgeway, 10, disappeared on her way to school on the morning of Oct. 5. After leaving home on foot, she never met up with friends she normally walks to school with at Chelsea Park. The park is about three blocks from her home and about a mile from the school.
- When she didn't arrive at Witt Elementary School in Westminster, Jefferson County Schools officials tried to contact her mother. They made a call at 10 a.m. but were only able to leave a voicemail. Ridgeway's mother, who works an overnight shift and sleeps during the day, didn't get the message until 4:30 p.m. and immediately contacted Westminster police.
- It took about five hours before the protocols were met in the case for the Colorado Bureau of Investigation to call an Amber Alert.
- Ridgeway's backpack was found on the sidewalk near Alpha Court and Andrew Drive in the Rock Creek neighborhood in Superior. That's 6.4 miles away from her home. It's unknown so far at what point the backpack wound up there.
- The CBI analyzed the backpack for DNA evidence and collected evidence from Ridgeway's home for comparison.
- Searches were taking place around Jessica's home and her school, as well as in open space areas in Westminster. Another area that underwent an extensive search was Rock Creek and open space areas near there.
- A day after their tearful televised plea for help and thanks to the community, police on Oct. 10 ruled out Ridgeway's parents as being involved in her disappearance. Police said Ridgeway may have been abducted by an unknown suspect.
- Late in the day on Oct. 11 a body is found in Arvada near Highway 93, about seven miles from Ridgeway's home.
