GREELEY — With the mystery over Kayleah Wilson’s whereabouts solved by the confirmation Thursday that the body found in an irrigation ditch was hers, Greeley police turned their attention to finding the 12-year-old’s killer.
“We’ve got a lot of work to do now,” said Police Chief Jerry Garner. “Our pledge in this kind of case is that we do not give up.”
A wide range of suspects will be reinterviewed and plenty of investigative avenues pursued after the Weld County coroner on Thursday determined from dental records that the body was Kayleah’s, Garner said.
“We’ll be talking to lots of people,” he said.
The coroner determined that Kayleah’s death was a homicide — but Garner would not say exactly how she died. He also would not say how long she might have been in the ditch, which is half a mile from her home but not on the route to her friend’s house, where she was going to attend a birthday party.
Kayleah went missing March 28, shortly after leaving her family’s apartment in the 2800 block of 28th Street. The next day, police began canvassing the area, including an area south of the Greeley Mall.
The path she would have taken includes heavily traveled roadways, and police requested an Amber alert be relayed throughout the state. None was issued because there was no evidence she was a runaway, nor was there any obvious indication of foul play.
The FBI soon entered the case, and widespread searches for Kayleah ensued but failed to turn up any clues.
There were no significant developments in the case until a ditch rider found the badly decomposed body near a water gate about 6 a.m. Wednesday, just a mile or so from where Kayleah was last seen. That same area had been searched at least twice, including with dogs, but Garner couldn’t say whether someone had searched the gate where Kayleah was found.
Garner also said a video taken of the mall parking lot couldn’t confirm Kayleah was there the day she disappeared.
Mother relieved, upset
Kayleah’s mother, April Wilson, was not available for comment. Garner, who spoke to her earlier Thursday, said she seemed a little relieved that her daughter’s body had been found. Otherwise, Garner said, “She’s upset.”
The FBI is helping with the case, and a $20,000 reward is still offered for information that leads to an arrest. Any help the public can offer would be appreciated, Garner said.
“Maybe something out there is the gem we need to close this case,” he said.
Community concern
Throughout Greeley, confirmation that Kayleah had been killed provoked sadness — and concern.
Cheryl Fendrich and her daughter, Cindy Rogers, friends of the Wilson family who attended the news conference, said volunteers’ efforts to find Kayleah can now be shelved. People should turn to helping Kayleah’s family get through the investigation, Fendrich said.
“I hope the community can come together and help the family and help Kayleah rest in peace,” she said.
At a makeshift memorial near the ditch, Melissa Lujan said Kayleah’s death has stunned all those who spent weekends and evenings searching for her in March and April.
“Her dying like this has hit the community very hard,” Lujan said.
Also at the memorial, Erica Cruz said the idea that Kayleah might have been snatched and killed on the day she disappeared is “very frightening.”
“This is especially bad because you don’t know who it is,” Cruz said. “And he may be out there.”
Monte Whaley: 720-929-0907 or mwhaley@denverpost.com
Key events in the case of Kayleah Wilson
March 28: Kayleah Wilson, a Brentwood Middle School student, is last seen about 3:40 p.m. walking to a birthday party near her west Greeley home
March 31: FBI agents join the search
April 3: Search focuses on five locations near her home, including a small lake near U.S. 34
April 5: FBI offers $10,000 for information, raised later to $20,000
Wednesday: A badly decomposed body is found in shallow water in a ditch about a mile from where Kayleah was last seen
Thursday: Police confirm the body is that of Kayleah and that the coroner’s office ruled the death a homicide
