BROOMFIELD — The 18-year-old suspect called himself “tha widowmaker,” said he loved the night life and pontificated about illegal drug use and violent gang play on his MySpace Web page.
“My gole iz to b a famis DANCE DJ for Denver,” the professed fan of the Insane Clown Posse band declared in a MySpace missive.
The victim, a pretty 13-year-old partial to jeans and Ugg boots, left her house Oct. 14 after a disagreement with her parents about her companions.
The body of Kelsey Shannon was found Wednesday in the 13700 block of Lowell Boulevard less than a mile from her home. It was identified two days later. On Saturday her boyfriend, Alexander “Alex” Paul Pacheco, was arrested as a suspect in her death.
Kelsey’s parents, along with 50 friends and family members, Saturday visited the ditch obscured by cattails where their daughter’s body had been discovered.
“My heart sank when they said they had found her,” said Oscar Almeida, who stood with his family of three that brought a stuffed toy turtle and yellow daffodils.
People filed past a bridge overpass and left bouquets of fresh flowers, balloons and stuffed animals, wondering how a teenage romance had gone so wrong. A chalk drawing of a purple heart and the words “Rest in peace sweet girl,” were written on the sidewalk, which was piling up with handwritten notes, a wreath, toys and candles. One card read: “Kelsey, I’m sorry we didn’t get along as well as we could, but when we did I was so happy.”
The heartache began Oct. 14, shortly after Kelsey’s mother, Dottie Shannon, picked up her daughter after school. She had found her with Pacheco, who had been arrested Sept. 18 for underage drinking and theft.
A disagreement ensured between mother and child about Kelsey’s choice of friends. Kelsey left her home for a walk and vanished.
Police had investigated Kelsey’s October disappearance as an endangered runaway case until her body was identified.
Pacheco, who was arrested at 1 a.m. Saturday at his mother’s home in Lakewood, is being held at the Broomfield County Detention Center.
Police have been investigating Kelsey’s disappearance all along, including checking websites that might give clues about her whereabouts, said Sgt. Mark Goodell, Broomfield police spokesman.
A website for missing persons may have been the first public forum about whisperings against Kelsey’s boyfriend. In a Nov. 1 posting on the site, someone signing on as “Breezy” raised suspicion.
“Oh jeez! After reading the boyfriend’s MySpace this girl may be in something that she can’t get herself out of,” Breezy wrote.
Fifty-five minutes later, a misspelled and poorly punctuated missive was posted on the same site, presumably from Kelsey.
“alex, you know i love you. i dont want cops or my paretns to XXXX us up. i cant stand this. i love you, and i wana be with you forever.”
It suggested Kelsey was alive and on the run.
Dottie Shannon wrote a message on the same site, cautioning people from jumping to conclusions.
Pacheco and his parents went to a candlelight vigil for Kelsey Dec. 7 and met Kelsey’s sister for the first time.
“I’m sure she would have loved the chance to have introduced Meg to Alex. It’s too sad they had to meet this way,” Dottie Shannon wrote in a Dec. 14 message posted on the missing-persons website.
She said her mood was gloomy.
“It’s two months today since my 13-year-old daughter, Kelsey, left home without a trace and I don’t know how much longer I can handle it,” she wrote.
On Dec. 11, a long, poorly punctuated, misspelled diatribe appears on Pacheco’s MySpace page, which includes several references to suicide.
“My fianc? has ran away wake up every day wondering if your okay I don’t know where you are or if your near or far there is no withdraw as bad as this . . . she made me straight when I was bi now I cry all by myself completely alone without my spouse my one true love my gorgeous swan my graceful dove . . .”
His MySpace page, which mentions “Juggaloes,” followers of the Insane Clown Posse hip-hop group, features pictures of Pacheco in facepaint as well as a dozen photos of Kelsey.
Stephenie Kostur, 18, one of those visiting the makeshift shrine near where the body was found, said Pacheco was known to be a Juggalo. She said group members painted their faces and were linked to drugs and violence.
On Dec. 30, answering a request by Dottie Shannon, Pacheco wrote another poorly spelled message that appeared on the missing-persons website about the day Kelsey disappeared.
He wrote that they met after school and “chilled” until 4:30 p.m., when Kelsey’s mom picked her up.
“Every thing seemed peafectly normal,” he wrote. “kelsey was watching spunj bob then she got up and said ‘im goin for a walk.’ ”
A detective interviewed him and told him that Kelsey wrote in her journal that she thought Pacheco was cheating on her.
“I would never think twice about doing something so hertfull and selfish . . . she would always tell me that she would kill herself if I for some reson stoped seeing her . . . If she dosent come home befor chirsmas. Im going to top myself some time after new years.”
Kathryn Scott Osler contributed to this report.
