The Weld County Sheriff’s Office (WCSO) in Colorado is reopening the investigation into the 1973 cold case of Roxanne Leadbeater. Roxanne was a 15-year-old from Redondo Beach, California. Her remains were found in Weld County on November 19, 1973. For over 50 years, her identity was unknown. She was called ‘Jane Doe 1973’ by local detectives. The cause of her death and how she arrived in Colorado are still unclear.
In December 2024, the Colorado Bureau of Investigation used forensic genealogy to identify the remains as Roxanne Leadbeater. This followed the exhumation of her remains in April 2022 from Linn Grove Cemetery in Greeley, Colorado. DNA samples were collected at that time. The case is still unsolved, and investigators are asking for new information.
Roxanne lived in the 4100 block of West 163rd Street in Lawndale, California. She attended Lawndale High School until ninth grade. She was last seen in the Redondo Beach area around 1972. No missing person or runaway report was filed for her. Her only known relatives are distant cousins. They do not know if she ran away or was kidnapped. They also said Roxanne had no known ties to Colorado…