PUEBLO, Colo.—Funeral services are scheduled for Friday for a 14-year-old Pueblo West girl who authorities say was bound, strangled and left in a field.
A tracking dog led deputies to the body of Ashley Patterson on Sunday afternoon, about an hour after her mother reported her missing. The girl’s half-naked body was found in a black trash bag, and her hands were tied behind her back.
An autopsy showed the girl died of strangulation and asphyxiation.
A 64-year-old neighbor, Paul Stark, has been arrested on suspicion of first-degree murder in the girl’s death. An affidavit says Stark told investigators he didn’t see Ashley on Sunday and was in his yard fixing a birdhouse that afternoon.
The funeral is set for 10 a.m. Friday at the Praise Assembly of God church in Pueblo. Internment will follow at the Imperial Memorial Gardens.
———
Information from: The Pueblo Chieftain,
