Community In Shock As Berthoud Teen Is Feared Dead
BERTHOUD, Colo. (CBS4) - A girl from Berthoud is feared dead after she vanished Thursday night, and a statewide search for her ex-boyfriend is over.
The teenagers, both 18, recently ended a relationship.
The worried family of Ashley Doolittle called police after she never returned home Thursday evening. Police then found Doolittle's car at Lon Hagler Reservoir near Loveland.
Authorities said they were concerned her ex-boyfriend Tanner Flores, who was also missing, was armed with a gun. The search that followed then led investigators on Friday to Mesa County on Colorado's Western Slope, where they found Flores, his pickup truck and the body of a young woman.
Flores is being held in a Mesa County Jail as coroners work to identify the body and the cause of death.
Friends and family members in Berthoud told CBS4 on Friday the two people were once in love.
"Whenever I saw them they were smiling and happy, and it kind of just became like I didn't see them together anymore," said classmate Eric Parker.
Doolittle recently graduated from Berthoud High School and Flores also attended the school.
"It's a tragedy for them, for her family, for everybody involved. It's a terrible thing," said resident Frank Zartman.
Eli Blackburn-Pineda told CBS4 he is a former friend of Flores.
"When I found out this was just really surprising. And I wasn't expecting it at all," Blackburn-Pineda said. "I knew he wouldn't be that type of person to do any of this."
Connor McAdams, a Berthoud Elementary School student, said Doolittle volunteered at his school. He said she was a kind and helpful tutor.
"She was really good with like if a kid didn't get a concept she would help with that," he said.
Parker said he just saw Doolittle at a graduation party and didn't suspect any issues between her and Flores.
"If he hurt her then he deserves the punishment. To hear that she might be gone is really heartbreaking," he said.
