Marilee Burt was only 15 years of age when her life was brutally cut short.
Marilee Burt was an All-American 15-year-old in 1970. She wasn’t an airhead – she worked diligently at her studies at Goddard Junior High School in Littleton, Colorado – a suburb of about 48 thousand people which would become infamous in 1999 when two disturbed young men brought hell to Columbine High School.
Marilee loved cheerleading for her school’s basketball team, school spirit, and the great pop music and fashions of the day. She was, in short, a typical American teenager in 1970.
Perhaps it was this quality that drove the rich fantasy life of whoever strangled and sexually assaulted Marilee as she walked home from a basketball game still wearing her cheerleading outfit.
Someone strangled Marilee and sexually assaulted her as she walked home from a basketball game at the Junior High. Her nude body was found in a canyon several miles from the route that several independent witnesses said they saw her on – she was last seen alive talking to an unknown person in an unknown vehicle.
Investigators developed a DNA profile, using existing physical evidence, years after the murder. It hasn’t yet been tied to a match in state or federal databases but investigators remain hopeful, especially as more and more people voluntarily give their DNA, in the hopes that a family match would be found.
Investigators ask that you call Metro Denver Crime Stoppers if you know something about this case. The number is 720-913-7867. You can also submit a tip online by going here.
Journalist and dogged student of all things forensic, Wess Haubrich, examines the nitty, gritty details you didn’t know about infamous (and not so infamous but equally weird) crimes and their unseen motivations. Thanks for reading!
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