Detectives hope classmates, friends can help solve Weld County’s oldest cold case death

Fifty-two years after her death, the Weld County Sheriff’s Office is seeking help in figuring out how a California woman with seemingly no ties to Colorado was found dead west of Platteville in 1973.
The disappearance of Roxanne Leadbeater, who was identified just last year using forensic genealogy, is the county’s oldest cold case, according to a Weld County Sheriff’s Office news release.

Her remains were exhumed from Linn Grove Cemetery in April 2022, and usable DNA was collected and sent to the Colorado Bureau of Investigation, which identified her as Leadbeater on Dec. 3, 2024.

Since identifying Leadbeater, sheriff’s office detectives have learned she lived on West 163rd Street in Lawndale, California, and attended Will Rogers Junior High in Long Beach, California, in 1970-71 and Lawndale High School in 1971-72, according to the release.

Her skeletal remains were found on the bank of the St. Vrain River west of Platteville on Nov. 19, 1973, according to the FBI.

The sheriff’s office hopes a classmate, friend, neighbor or acquaintance will recognize her and come forward with information about her life prior to her disappearance, the agency said in the release.

Her mother died in Maui, Hawaii, and her father and brother both died in California. Her only known relatives, distant cousins who were not close to her, believe she went missing around 1972. She had no known ties to Colorado, so they are unsure if she was kidnapped or ran away, the release states.

Sheriff’s office detectives contacted six Los Angeles-area law enforcement agencies, and none had any record of Leadbeater being reported missing or as a runaway, according to the release.

Anyone with information on Leadbeater, or the circumstances surrounding her death, can contact Cold Case Detective Byron Kastilahn at 970-400-2827 or BKastilahn@Weld.Gov. People can also call the county’s tip line at 970-304-6464 or email CrimeTips@Weld.Gov.