Greeley, CO – Colorado investigators are renewing calls for information this week after a 51-year forensic breakthrough identified the remains of a 15-year-old Redondo Beach girl found dead in Weld County in 1973. The Weld County Sheriff’s Office (WCSO) says the new identification could help solve one of the region’s oldest cold cases.
According to the Weld County Sheriff’s Office, the victim—previously known only as “Jane Doe 1973”—was identified on December 3, 2024, through forensic genealogy by the Colorado Bureau of Investigation as Roxanne Leadbeater of Redondo Beach, California. Her remains were discovered on November 19, 1973, in Weld County, but her cause of death and how she ended up in Colorado remain unclear.
Detectives say they exhumed Roxanne’s remains in April 2022 to obtain fresh DNA samples. That material was sent to the Colorado Bureau of Investigation for advanced analysis, which ultimately provided the match. Investigators now hope classmates, friends, or anyone who knew Roxanne during her teenage years will come forward.
According to investigators, Roxanne lived in the 4100 block of West 163rd Street in Lawndale, California, before her death. She attended Will Rogers Junior High from 1970 to 1971 and later Lawndale High School until completing 9th grade in 1972. WCSO says her only known relatives—distant cousins—were not close to her but reported she may have gone missing around 1972, possibly from the Redondo Beach area.
No Los Angeles-area agencies were able to locate any reports of Roxanne being missing or listed as a runaway, according to WCSO. Her parents and brother are all deceased, leaving few direct family sources for investigators.
Anyone with information about Roxanne Leadbeater’s life or disappearance is urged to contact Weld County Case Detective Byron Kastlian at (970) 400-2827 or email Bkastlian@weld.gov. Tips may also be submitted to CrimeTips@weld.gov.
This article was produced by a journalist and may include AI-assisted input. All content is reviewed for accuracy and fairness.
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