Left and Center: Elizabeth circa, 1983
Right: Age Progressed to age 41
Vital Statistics at Time of Disappearance
Missing Since: August 16, 1983
Missing From: Idaho Springs, Clear Creek County, Colorado
Classification: Non-Family Abduction
Date Of Birth: July 27, 1969
Age: 14 years old
Height and Weight: 5’4″ and 105 pounds
Distinguishing Characteristics: Caucasian Female, Blonde hair, Blue eyes, Elizabeth has a mole over her right eyebrow, she might use the nickname “Beth”
Clothing/Jewelry Description: A faded blue t-shirt, white jogging shorts, and a pair of jogging sneakers
NCMEC Number: 603363
Details of Disappearance
Elizabeth or more commonly known as “Beth” was last seen in Idaho Springs, Colorado on August 16th 1983. She disappeared while she was on her morning jog at 10:00 am. She has never been seen or heard from again. She normally left a note behind for her parents to tell them how long she would be gone for but she did not do this on the day that she disappeared.
Investigators do not believe that Beth left on her own. She left all of her personal belongings including money she earned from a babysitting job at her home. Investigators suspect that Beth was kidnapped as she jogged that morning. The last confirmed sighting of her was at a park near her home.
Authorities are hoping to locate a man for questioning in Beth’s case. He was apparently seen in the park at the same time she was there and my have been seen speaking with her. The man was seen driving in a small red 1975 or 1976 pickup truck with a white camper shell and license plates not native to the State of Colorado.
Elizabeth’s sister also told investigators that a man in the same pickup truck had flirted with Beth in the days prior to her abduction. The truck did, however, have blue/black lettering and a brown stripe on the sides. The man was described as being fair skinned with collar length light brown hair put off to the side and weighed approximately 175 pounds at the time.
This man called himself “Claude”. He wore prescription eyeglasses with blue tinted photo grade lenses. He appeared to be angry after Beth refused to have a conversation with him. Investigators are not sure if he has anything to do with her disappearance but would like to interview him about the case and identify him.
Several people have been named in regards as a suspect in Beth’s case in the years following her disappearance. A year following Beth’s disappearance, investigators stated they had believed 18 year old Robert Arnold Storm has been potentially involved in her disappearance.
He was being held in the El Paso County Jail at the time he was named. He had shot and killed a 17 year old coworker, Shawna Webb. She worked with him at a movie theater. He allegedly wrote in graffiti on a wall in Colorado Springs and asked if police wanted to know the location of Beth’s body. The location given was near King Soopers.
Storm denied that he wrote the message and also said he knew another girl with the same name as Elizabeth. It’s unknown if he’s still a person of interest in the case.
Investigators strongly believe that a man named, Edward Apodaca, was possibly responsible for Beth’s abduction and murder. He was from New Mexico and was murdered by his wife and her mother in 1990.
Two witnesses came forward and stated they had seen Apodaca talking to Beth approximately 3 days before she disappeared. They were inside of the red pickup truck with the camper shell. The license plates were New Mexican and a matching license plate with the numbers was later found on his property.
His former girlfriend, Viola Moya, would go on to claim that she assisted Edward in burying Elizabeth’s body in the Mountains near Idaho Springs. The area she indicated was searched along with cadaver dogs. They did detect the presence of human remains in the area but none were found during the search.
After her statements, Viola was officially listed as a suspect in Beth’s disappearance and investigators believe she knew a lot more about Beth’s murder then she had confessed to them. They believe she may have been in the truck with Apodaca and Beth when he assaulted her and killed her.
Investigators still consider Apodcada a strong suspect in the case and her family believes that he was in fact responsible for Beth’s murder. He is not the only person who has been investigated for involvement in Beth’s disappearance. An Ohio man who remains unidentified has been investigated as a suspect in the case for years. Investigators have not charged him with any wrongdoing in connection to the case.
A confessed serial killer from Mississippi once confessed to killing Elizabeth in 1995 but authorities do not consider his story to be credible. It’s unclear if he’s still considered a suspect in the case.
Investigators believed they might have solved the case in 1985 when a woman claiming to be Beth was picked up by police in Tampa, Florida. Her parents flew down to Florida to see if the woman was in fact their long missing daughter. It turned out, however, that this woman was not Beth but another person.
In 1994, investigators stated they may have uncovered possible evidence relating toe Beth’s disappearance. In the Empire area of Colorado, investigators uncovered several bone fragments, a piece of fabric which may have been from a shirt and similar to canvas, and one single blonde hair. These items of interest were found buried near Interstate 70.
The bone fragments remain unidentified and investigators are not sure if they are human remains. The fabric was too degraded to determine its origin and the hair was sent to a FBI laboratory for testing. The results have never been released. Some agencies state that Viola led investigators to the site these items would be found in.
In 2007, a grand jury investigated her disappearances and sought her killer. They were hoping to possibly indict the responsible party for her kidnapping and murder but they had no evidence to support a murder charge. As a result no charges were filed during their investigation and the task being done by them eventually dissolved.
At the time of her disappearance, Beth was a baseball player and was known to jog regularly to stay in shape. She was a babysitter at the time as well. In 1987, her parents both divorced. In 1994, her family decided to have her declared legally dead.
Elizabeth’s disappearance remains unsolved. Investigators believe she was abducted by a stranger and murdered afterwards. They theorize that her remains are potentially hidden in an Idaho Springs gold mine shaft.
Investigating Agency
If you have any information concerning this case, please contact:
Colorado Bureau of Investigation 303-239-4222
Source Information
The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children