A Gruesome Discovery
About 4:30 a tourist and his son that pulled over onto a gravel road overlook along Barker Reservoir to read a historical marker discovered Tracy's body lying on the snow, one shoe and some school supplies scattered about her. Horrified, they rushed to a Sinclair gas station in Nederland to call the police.
First on the scene was a Nederland police officer and a Nederland ambulance crew. This is where an unfortunate investigation error was made. The Nederland officer allowed the EMT crew to move Tracy's body to the ambulance to attempt resuscitation, though a Boulder police officer that arrived shortly afterwards claimed it was obvious Tracy was beyond help and her body should have been left where it was to maintain the integrity of the crime scene.
Tracy's body was fully clothed when found and she had a mark or scrape on her chin, ligature marks on her wrists, and an apparent gag mark on her face. An autopsy eventually came to the conclusion that Tracy died from asphyxiation. There were signs of attempted sexual penetration, though no semen was found. Also, several fibers and hairs were found on her body and clothing. A fingerprint was found on her thigh. Microscopic metal and glass particles were also found on Tracy's body or clothes. Her time of death was estimated to be somewhere between 10:30 a.m. and noon.
The Thornton and Boulder Police Departments conducted a seemingly very thorough investigation including apparently interviewing every known sex offender in Colorado. Several suspects were unearthed by investigators, including an especially interesting suspect developed several years later by Thornton P.D. cold case detective Jim Benish. But nobody was ever arrested for Tracy Neef's slaying and it remains an open homicide case and an unsolved mystery to this day.
