Remains of 16-year-old girl found in Colorado freezer in 2005

CNN
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The human head and hands discovered in the freezer of a Colorado home in January have been identified as belonging to a 16-year-old girl who has been missing for nearly 20 years, according to local authorities.

Amanda Overstreet was identified as the victim through DNA testing, according to a Friday news release from the Mesa County Sheriff’s Office. The teen’s head and hands were found Jan. 12 in the freezer of a recently sold home in Grand Junction, Colorado.

The remains were discovered by someone who came to the home to pick up the freezer for free, the sheriff’s office said.

According to the sheriff’s office, Overstreet, who was believed to be “approximately 16 years old” at the time of her disappearance, “had not been seen or heard from since April 2005.” She was the daughter of the previous owner of the house.

There is no evidence that Overstreet was ever reported missing and “the circumstances of her disappearance remain under investigation,” the sheriff’s office said.

CNN has reached out to the Mesa County Sheriff’s Office for more information on Overstreet’s disappearance.

Authorities previously said they believed the discovery was an “isolated incident” and that there was no ongoing threat to the community.

The sheriff’s office did not release whether a cause of death could be determined.

According to CNN affiliate KJCT, a neighbor remembered seeing Overstreet on her way to school before her disappearance.

“The last time we saw the little girl was when she was on her way to school,” Jameson Perez said.

“We all suspected who it was,” he said of the discovered remains. “We started thinking, ‘Was it the little girl that was there?'”