2 Men Arrested In Woman's Murder Near Fort Collins
LARIMER COUNTY, Colo. (CBS4) - The sheriff's office arrested two men this week in connection with the murder of Andrea Bartmess, a missing 28-year-old woman whose remains were found a week ago in a remote part of Larimer County.
Michael Louis Bensen, 45, and Patrick Austin Hannon, 51, both of Fort Collins, were arrested on first-degree murder charges on Wednesday. They're also charged with conspiracy to commit murder and second-degree kidnapping.
Bartmess' mother, Wilma Cotten, said she had expected the murder charges, but the kidnapping charges were tough to think about.
"My stomach kind of dropped when (the sheriff's department) said kidnapping because that meant they held her against her will and done things to her that... I don't even want to think about," she said. "If they had just taken her out, drug deal gone bad, and ended up killing her, OK. But if they kidnapped her, held her against her will, tortured her, that is going to make me angry. Because no one deserves that."
Bartmess was likely killed more than six weeks ago, the sheriff's department said this week, but it wouldn't indicate how she died.
Her body was discovered northwest of Fort Collins on Nov. 21 near County Road 74E, which is also Red Feather Lakes Road.
Cotten said she was unsure about a motive in her daughter's disappearance and murder.
"I have a feeling it had to do with drugs, but other than that, I don't know," she said.
But Cotten also told CBS4 earlier this week her daughter suffered from bipolar disorder and that her mental illness and her trusting nature might have played a role in her disappearance.
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