Authorities announced Friday that body parts found in a freezer earlier this year after the sale of a Colorado home have been identified as belonging to 16-year-old Amanda Leariel Overstreet, daughter of the home’s former owner.
The Mesa County Sheriff’s Office is currently investigating her death as a homicide and the investigation is still ongoing.
The shocking discovery occurred last January when the new homeowner, who had found a freezer left by the previous owners, offered it free of charge. Upon inspection, the homeowner found a head and forearms with hands inside the freezer. On January 12, after the homeowner’s claim, the fire department intervened onsite. According to the sheriff’s office, Amanda was last seen or heard from in April 2005.
“The circumstances surrounding her disappearance remain under investigation, as well as ongoing forensic testing of evidence,” the sheriff’s office stated in a press release regarding the case. “There is no record that Amanda Overstreet was ever reported missing.”
On Friday, the Mesa County Coroner’s Office reported that the remains have been identified, however, the rest of the body has not yet been found.
The coroner’s office did not specify the reason for death, but indicated that the investigation is active and no further details will be released at the moment. The identification was later confirmed by DNA analysis.
The sheriff’s office reiterated that the house is now under new ownership and pointed that the current owner is “completely unrelated to the previous case” and that “the house was purchased, fully remodeled, and sold to the current owner.”
