Sheriff’s office: Pinyon Ave homicide IDed, talks case

GRAND JUNCTION. Colo. ( KREX ) – The head and hands that were found in January in the 2900 block of Pinyon Avenue were identified Friday .

The Mesa County Sheriff’s Office released the individual’s identity, Amanda Leariel Overstreet. Officials say that they believe that she was 16 years old during the time of her disappearance in April 2005.

A neighbor told WesternSlopeNow back in January, “On top of it, I guess there was a bunch of just animal meat as they were cleaning it out to pack it up, and there was a black bag, and they opened the bag and a human head fell out.”

Wendy Likes, the Mesa County Sheriff’s Office public information officer, states, “I know a lot of people are really concerned with the amount of time this case is taking.”

MCSO, the Colorado Bureau of Investigation and other local agencies have been investigating the homicide since January. Overstreet’s remains were found in a freezer in a house then.

“As far as I can gather, the gentleman was taking care of his mom, they never really had any people over,” the neighbor states.

The neighbor told WesternSlopeNow her son moved in with her after losing his father, Bradley David Imer, who is Amanda’s stepfather and the former owner of the house. He died of cardiac arrest and COVID back in 2021. But that leaves the question of Amanda’s whereabouts.

“We’re coming to clean out the immense amount of property that was left in the home. There was a freezer that was left. She put it up on a social media site and said, ‘Hey, if you want a freezer, come get it.’ These people came, showed up and obviously the freezer was very heavy because it was full and when they started to unload it, that’s when they discovered her,” Likes said.

The circumstances surrounding her disappearance remain under investigation, as well as ongoing forensic testing of the evidence.

Likes explains, “It’s incredibly sad that no one knew she was there. No one that we’re aware of knew she was missing. That no one took the time to find out where this child was or what happened to her, and that’s why we are taking the time, we are taking to make sure that we answer all those questions.”

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