Body parts in freezer left at Colorado home spark murder investigation | US crime

Body parts found in a freezer left at a sold Colorado home are those of a 16-year-old girl who went missing in 2005, authorities said.

The death of Amanda Leariel Overstreet – the biological daughter of the home's previous owner – is being investigated as a homicide, according to the sheriff's office handling the case. An investigation into Overstreet's killing is ongoing.

The discovery of Overstreet's remains came in January after the new owner of a home near Grand Junction gave away a freezer left behind by the previous resident. The person who claimed the freezer found a human head and forearms with hands attached, the Mesa County Sheriff's Office said.

Overstreet's body parts were identified through DNA testing. She has not been seen since April 2005 and “there is no record of Amanda Overstreet ever being reported missing,” a sheriff's statement said.

An exact cause of death has not yet been determined and no arrests have been made. According to the Mesa County Coroner's Office, the missing girl lived in the Grand Junction and Harris County, Texas areas.

The home's new owner has “completely no connection to the previous case,” the sheriff's office said. “The house was purchased, completely remodeled and sold to the current owner.”

According to Colorado Public Radio, records show that a home on the street where Overstreet's remains were discovered belonged to a Bradley David Imer, who died of Covid-19 in 2021. Imer's death certificate states that his wife was Leanne Overstreet.

Colorado Public Radio noted that it was unable to determine whether Leanne Overstreet and Amanda Overstreet were related. But the sheriff's office confirmed to the outlet that Amanda's birth mother had been a previous owner of the home where the remains were found.

Meanwhile, the Mesa County Sheriff's Office sent a statement to the Daily Mail confirming that Leanne Overstreet was indeed the owner of the home where her daughter's remains were found.