The suicide of a 15-year-old boy led to the arrest of a 30-year-old woman in Cañon City today.
The boy, who lived with his mother in Buena Vista, was reported missing on April 2 after visiting his father in Cañon City during his spring break, Cpt. Allen Cooper of the Cañon City Police Department said.
He was found by search crews the following Monday in a hilly area known as the hogbacks near Skyline Drive.
The boy’s death was ruled a suicide and the cause of death was determined to be an overdose from at least two prescription painkillers, Cooper said.
Following the boy’s death, an investigation revealed that the boy and his former baby sitter, Brenda Lynette Harding, may have had an inappropriate relationship, police said.
Harding was arrested at her home today and is being held at the Fremont County Detention Facility on a $15,000 bond. She faces charges of sexual assault on a child by a person in a position of trust and sexual assault on a child as a pattern of abuse, both felonies.
Jordan Steffen: 303-954-1794 or jsteffen@denverpost.com
