News Article

On December 10, 2022, a jury in Otero County convicted a Rocky Ford man in the homicide of Amanda M. Velasquez Ybarra (DOB: 02/08/82).
Edward Lawrence Aragon (DOB: 11/29/1981) was found guilty of First Degree Murder earlier this month. He was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole on December 16, 2022. 

Incident Overview
Rocky Ford police officers were called to a home in the 600 block of South 8th Street where they found Ybarra deceased inside a residence on July 24, 2015.

Colorado Department of Public Safety (CDPS) Executive Director Stan Hilkey has selected Chris Schaefer as the next Director of the Colorado Bureau of Investigation (CBI), effective February 3, 2023.

The Department of Public Safety selected Schaefer as Director after a robust and competitive search followed by panel interviews with CDPS leadership, CBI staff, and statewide and federal partners including law enforcement and district attorneys.

A 34-year-old Ignacio man is being held on suspicion of second degree murder involving the death of Raeanna "Nikki" Burch-Woodhull (age 28), an Indigenous female from Ignacio. 

A suspect was identified during the course of the investigation, and Luis Raul Valenzuela (DOB: 02/15/1988) was taken into custody on Saturday, December 3, 2022. Valenzuela was taken to the La Plata County Jail. His first appearance is set for Monday, December 5, 2022. Investigators believe the suspect is known to Burch-Woodhull.

The Park County Sheriff's Office honors and remembers murder victim Maggie Long on the five-year anniversary of her death.  Long, a high school senior from Bailey, Colorado, was found murdered in her home on December 1, 2017.

An afternoon shooting in Federal Heights sent one man to the hospital.

Police were called to the Kimberly Heights Mobile Home Park (2550 block of W. 92nd Avenue) on a call of a drive-by shooting at approximately 1:45 p.m. on Sunday, October 23, 2022.

It’s believed two men were parked in a vehicle in front of one of the trailers, when an unidentified individual or individuals driving a four-door KIA sedan shot multiple rounds into the vehicle. One of the men inside parked car was struck. The second was unharmed.

​Law enforcement continues to investigate an early morning deputy-involved shooting in Cañon City, just before 8:30 a.m. on Thursday, October 20, 2022.

Although the investigation is preliminary in nature, a Fremont County Sheriff’s Office deputy contacted a man (28 years of age, from Cañon City) walking in the 400 block of Greydene Avenue as part of a response to a call of a man with a gun in the area from earlier in the morning.

At the request of the La Plata County Sheriff’s Office, the Colorado Bureau of Investigation (CBI) sent investigative agents to the area of Middle Mountain Road (near the Vallecito Reservoir) on the discovery of human skeletal remains.

CBI agents went to the area to process the scene on Monday morning (September 26). The remains are unidentified, but appear to be those of an adult. The La Plata County Coroner will make official identification and notify next of kin.

Hikers in the area discovered the remains and contacted law enforcement officials.

 Agents with the Colorado Bureau of Investigation (CBI) continue to investigate an incident where a woman in the back of a patrol car was struck by a train near US85 and County Rd. 36, north of Platteville, just after 7:30 p.m. on Friday, September 16, 2022. She sustained Serious Bodily Injuries (SBI) and was taken to a Greeley hospital for treatment. 

The woman has been identified as Yareni Rios-Gonzalez (age 20, Greeley) . She remains in a Greeley hospital with multiple injuries and is expected to survive.

No one else was injured during the incident.

Multiple agencies are investigating a critical incident where an individual detained by police sustained serious bodily injuries near US85 and County Rd. 36 just north of Platteville just after 7:30 p.m. on Friday, September 16, 2022.

Although early in the investigation, it’s believed the initial call was reported as an alleged road rage incident involving a firearm in Ft. Lupton earlier in the evening.

The La Junta Police Department, with assistance from the Colorado Bureau of Investigation, continues to investigate a stabbing that left one man dead.

On Friday, August 12, 2022, at approximately 6:30 a.m., the La Junta Police Department received a 911 call of a man lying in the street at the intersection of 9^th Street and Santa Fe Avenue. The victim was transported to the Arkansas Regional Valley Medical Center in La Junta where he later died.