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Human head and hands found in freezer at recently sold Colorado home

The incoming residents found the body parts while cleaning up their new house

Julia Reinstein
Monday 22 January 2024 14:26 EST
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Human head and hands found in freezer of recently sold Colorado home
Human head and hands found in freezer of recently sold Colorado home (MCSO)

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A human head and hands were discovered in the freezer of a recently sold home in Colorado.

The body parts were found in Grand Junction on 12 January, and deputies responded to the residence “regarding a suspicious incident,” stated the Mesa County Sheriff’s Office.

“Persons at the address cleaning out the recently sold property discovered possible human remains inside the residence,” the department added.

The case is now being investigated as a homicide.

An autopsy conducted by the Mesa County Coroner’s Office confirmed the head and hands were human, but the remains have not yet been identified.

“Our hope is to positively identify the victim while remaining respectful of the victim and the victim’s family,” the sheriff’s office said.

Little else is known about the case so far, and authorities are asking anyone with information to contact them with tips.

“At this time, we have no other definitive answers until further testing can be completed,’ they said. ‘These types of tests take a significant amount of time, and again, we ask for patience from the public as this investigation continues.”

A woman who lives across the street, Sam Troester, told 9 News the house’s previous residents had moved out that morning, and the new ones came in later that day.

“It turns out that the new owners of the house posted online that they were looking to sell a bunch of the garbage that was left behind, scrap metal and things that people could repurpose, and there was a deep freezer that was posted up for grabs,” Ms Troester said.

She noticed something was going on when workers with hazmat suits showed up at the property and spoke to them when they asked to use her bathroom.

“I let them in and cautiously I was like, ‘What’s going on?’ And they continued to tell me that they opened the freezer to empty it so they could transport it and they said a head fell out,” said Ms Troester.

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