DENVER—Authorities investigating the slayings of an elderly couple in eastern Colorado are focusing on the couple’s great-grandson.
Investigators said Thursday that the 16-year-old boy is the only person of interest in the deaths of Charles Clagett, 80, and Laura Clagett, 82, in Hugo. They were found dead in their home Wednesday after the teen crashed a pickup truck.
The couple had custody of the boy, who hasn’t been identified. Their bodies were discovered when deputies went to their home to notify them the boy had been airlifted to a hospital in Denver.
Investigators haven’t said how they were killed and it’s unclear how long the couple had been dead when they were found.
The teen was seriously injured in the crash and was still in the hospital on Thursday, authorities said. He’s expected to recover and hasn’t been arrested.
Steve Johnson, assistant director of the Colorado Bureau of Investigation, said investigators were focusing on the teen partly because he was the only other person who lived in the home and there were no signs of a break-in.
“We have no other reason to believe that this was a burglary or this was a random act,” Johnson said.
The Colorado State Patrol said the teen crashed his pickup about four miles from his home on Wednesday morning. He apparently lost control of the vehicle, overcorrected and rolled over several times.
It was unclear if alcohol or drugs were a factor, but it does appear he was speeding, said Colorado State Patrol Sgt. John Hahn.
A large amount of cash was found in the truck, Johnson said. It is unclear who the money belonged to or if it had been stolen.
The teen’s biological mother is in Colorado but she wasn’t living with him at the time of the accident, investigators said.
The town of Hugo is about 100 miles east of Denver and has just under 1,000 residents. The CBI is assisting the Lincoln County Sheriff’s office in the investigation.
