Authorities say an 18-year-old Grand Junction woman and was dumped in western Colorado suffered an overdose from mixed drug intoxication.
The Mesa County Coroner’s Office said in a news release Tuesday they have yet to determine the manner in which Kelly Myers died.
Myers was reported missing in December by her family. The teen’s in Cactus Park west of Grand Junction, some 300 miles from the West Valley City, Utah hotel room where police say she died.
Authorities called her death suspicious after finding her remains. Police in West Valley City have taken over the case from Colorado law enforcement.
Utah officials say they believe Myer’s body was stuffed into a suitcase and dumped in Mesa County.
The that police in Utah arrested two men believed to be connected to Myer’s death — 47-year-old Raymond Cordova and 30-year-old Eduardo Nasario De La Cruz.
Police say De La Cruz rented the hotel room where Myers died and Cordova later tossed the suitcase with her body inside, according to the AP.
Cordova and De La Cruz were among 11 people targeted by authorities in Mesa County that began last August and was completed in March.
Police in Grand Junction said they believe De La Cruz was the head of the drug trafficking organization and a supplier for Mesa County.
Grand Junction police say the drug organization was linked between Mesa County and Salt Lake City.
De La Cruz was in custody in Mesa County when he was arrested in Myer’s death. He had been arrested earlier this year after a brief standoff at a tattoo shop in Grand Junction with authorities.
Jesse Paul: 303-954-1733, jpaul@denverpost.com or twitter.com/JesseAPaul
