The Mandi Files

THE DENVER PR******TE KILLER(S)

1975–1995

20 YEARS OF UNSOLVED MURDERS

For 2 decades, women and girls disappeared from the Denver metro area.

Bodies were found dumped along rural roads, fields, ravines and highways surrounding Denver.

Detectives never proved there was ONE Denver Pr******te Killer.

In fact, cold case investigators eventually believed 4 to 6 SERIAL KILLERS could have been operating around Denver between 1975 and 1995.

Some investigators estimated as few as 17 victims. Others believed the number could be as high as 38.

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🔪 THE EARLY YEARS:

1975 — Melanie Suzanne Cooley, 18
High-school student.
Last seen at Nederland High School on April 15, 1975.
Her n**e body was discovered May 2 in Coal Creek Canyon.

Cause of death: blunt-force trauma to the head.

Her case remains unsolved.

IMPORTANT: 1975 also brought another Denver area case that was later proven to belong to an entirely different killer.

Teree Becker, 20, was found sexually assaulted and asphyxiated in a Westminster field in December 1975.

In 2023/24, DNA and genetic genealogy identified Thomas Martin Elliott as her killer.

So Teree’s murder is NOT evidence of the unidentified Denver Pr******te Killer.

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1976
Rebecca Kellison, 21
Disappeared June 19, 1976.
Her clothing and identification were found in an Adams County field.

Her body has never been recovered.

Gayle Noelle Page, 15
Disappeared August 26, 1976.

Her body was found September 5 near 100th Avenue and Highway 2.

She had been shot in the head.

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1979 — THINGS GET REALLY DARK

Kimberly Jean Grabin, 16
Reported missing July 23, 1979.
Last seen in Denver’s Capitol Hill area.

Her n**e body was found near I-70.

Cause of death: strangulation.

Her body had been posed in a sexually humiliating position.

Linda Hutchings, 17
Disappeared August 15.
Found September 1, 1979.

Her n**e body was discovered near Indiana Street and W. 82nd Avenue.

Cause of death: beating.

Sheila Birl, 19
A pr******te.
Last seen in Denver on October 23, 1979.

Her n**e body was found near I-76 and Weld County Road 51.

She had been beaten in the head.

The cause of death was officially undetermined, with possible overdose considered.

This same year, Vincent Groves was killing women.

DNA eventually proved Groves killed:

• Emma Jenefor, 25
• Joyce Ramey, 23
• Peggy Cuff, 20

Those three murders occurred in 1979.

They were initially part of the larger pool of Denver area unsolved killings but modern DNA ultimately showed they belonged to Groves.

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1980

Stephanie Ann Bauman, 15
Disappeared October 27, 1980.
She had been hitchhiking.

Her n**e body was found the next day near County Road 173 and U.S. 36.

Her body had been posed.

Her death was attributed to hypothermia after she was incapacitated and left in the area.

Cynthia Boyd, 19
A pr******te.
Found February 21, 1980 near what is now the DIA area.

She had been strangled.

Her n**e body showed ligature marks.

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⚠️ BUT 1980 ALSO CONTAINED ANOTHER SERIAL KILLER

Joe Michael Ervin was operating in Denver.

His victims were not initially believed to be connected.

Modern DNA eventually proved that Ervin killed:

• Madeleine Furey-Livaudais, 33 — 1978
• Dolores Barajas, 53 — 1980
• Gwendolyn Harris, 27 — 1980
• Antoinette Parks, 17 — 1981

All four were stabbed.

Parks was six to seven months pregnant.

Ervin was never convicted of those murders because he died by su***de in jail in 1981 after killing Aurora Police Officer Debra Sue Corr.

DNA connected the 4 women’s murders decades later.

This is one of the biggest reasons detectives believe the Denver-area murder spree was NOT necessarily the work of one killer.

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1981

Jeannie Moore, 18
Gas-station attendant.
Disappeared August 25.

Found August 28 in Genesee Park.

Cause of death: blunt-force trauma.

Yvonne Rabb, 29
A pr******te.
Disappeared November 14.

Found the following day in a Weld County ditch.

She had been shot in the back of the head with a sh***un.

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1983–1985

Sabrina Judish, 12
Disappeared from a YMCA summer camp in June 1983.

Her skeletal remains were discovered in May 1984.

Cause of death could not be determined.

Tracy Lynn Wooden, 16
Disappeared August 11, 1985.
Found the next day in a Denver alley.

Cause of death: strangulation.

Lillian Olguin, 27
Disappeared October 17, 1985.

Her n**e body was recovered from Clear Creek in Adams County in December.

Cause of death remained undetermined.

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1986

Donna Sue Wayne, 18
Last seen June 13, 1986 at a bar in Aurora.
Her body was discovered July 16.

She had been strangled.

She was found n**e and posed.

Her disappearance became one of the cases investigators later examined for possible serial-killer connections.

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1987 ONE OF THE MOST IMPORTANT YEARS

Karolyn Walker, 18
Disappeared in July 1987.
Her body was found near I-70 and Colfax.

She had been strangled.

Her body was n**e and posed.

Investigators considered her murder part of the suspected series.

HERE’S THE TWIST:

Vincent Groves was also investigated in connection with Walker.

He was eventually cleared of her murder.

That distinction matters because Groves was later conclusively linked to other killings.

Rhonda Marie Fisher, 30
April 1, 1987.
Fisher was sexually assaulted and strangled.

Her body was found near South Perry Park Road in Douglas County.

She had last been seen walking in Denver.

For nearly 40 years, investigators considered multiple suspects—including known serial offenders operating in the Denver area.

Then came the breakthrough.

In 2025, DNA recovered from the paper bags placed over Fisher’s hands at the crime scene produced a CODIS match to Vincent Groves.

Her murder is now officially attributed to Groves.

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1988

Shannon Rose MacLean, 19
Disappeared April 29.
Her body was recovered July 17 near Highway 285.

She had been hitchhiking.

Her body was n**e and so badly deteriorated that the cause of death could not be determined.

Jessica Arredondo, 21
Disappeared November 25.
Found the following day along Highway 36.

She had suffered severe trauma and her body was n**e.

Meanwhile…

Vincent Groves was still operating.

DNA eventually linked him to Pamela Montgomery, 35, whose body was found in a Denver alley in August 1988.

Groves was also convicted for the murders of:

Juanita Lovato, 19 & Diane Montoya Mancera, 25.

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1989 — THE REID CONNECTION

Lisa Kay Kelly, 33
A pr******te.
Disappeared in 1988.

Her badly decomposed body was discovered March 24, 1989 in Clear Creek Canyon.

She was strangled.

Lannell/Lanell Williams, 28
A pr******te.
Disappeared October 12, 1989.

Her body was found two days later near Highway 6.

She had been strangled.

These two murders eventually became the strongest link to Billy Edwin Reid.

DNA evidence ultimately tied Reid to both killings.

He was convicted and sentenced to life imprisonment.

But was Reid the Denver Pr******te Killer?

NOT PROVEN.

That’s the crucial distinction.

Investigators suspected Reid in additional murders because:

• His confirmed victims were pr******tes.

• Their murders fit the general victim profile.

• His known murders occurred during the same broader period.

• He was a transient who traveled between Colorado and California.

There was a major problem:

No conclusive evidence has tied Reid to the entire Denver series.

And witnesses in some of the older cases described a middle-aged white male, while Reid did not fit that description at the time.

So Reid remains a suspected connection—not the proven identity of the Denver Pr******te Killer.

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1990

Jessica Lynn Caudill, 15

A runaway.

Disappeared March 13, 1990.

Her n**e body was discovered April 14 near Highway 58.

She had been strangled.

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1991

Valerie Meeks, 36

A pr******te.

Disappeared July 3, 1991.

Her n**e body was found July 17 near Erie.

Cause of death: suffocation with a plastic bag.

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1992

Lea Lobmeyer, 30

A call girl and college student.

Killed July 22, 1992.

She was strangled.

Her body was found partially n**e in Denver.

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1995 — THE END OF THE ORIGINAL WINDOW

Jennifer Sue Larson, 21

A Metro State College student.

Last seen August 10, 1995 in Aurora.

Her body was discovered October 4 in a sunflower field southeast of Strasburg.

Cause of death was undetermined.

This is one of the cases included in the broader 1975–1995 investigation.

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🔥 SO HOW MANY VICTIMS WERE THERE?

Here’s where the internet gets messy.

The commonly cited “Denver Pr******te Killer” number:

17 confirmed victims

with some sources expanding the possible number to 27.

The original Denver Post cold-case investigation:

Investigators examined 38 unsolved murders of young women between 1975 and 1995 as potentially connected to one or more serial killers.

Investigators believed there could have been 4–6 serial killers operating in the Denver area.

That’s VERY different from saying one man killed all 38. (Cohere)

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🧬 THE BIGGEST CONNECTIONS TODAY

🔴 VINCENT GROVES

Confirmed/strongly established victims include:

• Emma Jenefor
• Joyce Ramey
• Peggy Cuff
• Pamela Montgomery
• Tammy Sue Woodrum
• Juanita Lovato
• Diane Montoya Mancera
• Rhonda Fisher

And investigators have identified numerous additional women as possible Groves victims.

The National Institute of Justice lists 17 confirmed/identified homicide victims in its Groves case profile and says the total could have been as high as 24. (National Institute of Justice)

As of the 2025 Rhonda Fisher breakthrough, the Douglas County Sheriff’s Office says Groves is believed responsible for at least 12 Denver-metro homicides, plus an attempted murder and sexual assault, while acknowledging the true number may be higher. (Douglas County Sheriff’s Office)

🔴 BILLY EDWIN REID

2 proven murders:

Lisa Kay Kelly
Lannell Williams

Possible additional victims have been discussed, but no additional Denver Pr******te Killer murder has been proven against Reid. (Wikipedia)

🔴 JOE MICHAEL ERVIN

4 women conclusively linked through DNA:

Madeleine Furey-Livaudais
Dolores Barajas
Gwendolyn Harris
Antoinette Parks

Plus Aurora Police Officer Debra Sue Corr, whom Ervin shot during a traffic stop.

Ervin died in custody in 1981.

🔴 THOMAS MARTIN ELLIOTT

Teree Becker, 20, 1975 Westminster.

DNA eventually connected Becker’s murder to Sherrie Bridgewater, murdered in Las Vegas in 1991.

Elliott died by su***de in 1991.

This case demonstrates another major problem with the old Denver series: a murder could look like part of the pattern for decades and later turn out to belong to a completely different serial killer.

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WHAT DID DETECTIVES SEE AS THE COMMON PATTERN?

Across the broader group, investigators repeatedly encountered:

• Young women and teenage girls
• Pr******tes and other vulnerable women
• Hitchhiking
• Bars/Colfax/Denver street activity
• Strangulation or severe violence
• N**e or partially n**e bodies
• Bodies dumped outside Denver
• Rural roads, fields, ravines and highway corridors
• Bodies sometimes posed in humiliating positions
• Victims disappearing from Denver and turning up in surrounding counties

But the differences matter too.

Some victims were shot.

Some were stabbed.

Some were beaten.

Some were strangled.

Some weren’t pr******tes.

Some were children.

some cases eventually proved to have completely different killers.

That is why investigators increasingly favored the theory of multiple serial offenders rather than one “super killer.”

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THE BOTTOM LINE

1975–1995:

➡️ 38 women were identified by investigators as part of the broader group of unsolved murders that could potentially involve serial killers.

➡️ Investigators believed 4–6 serial killers may have been operating around Denver.

➡️ The popular “Denver Pr******te Killer” label is generally given 17–27 suspected victims, depending on the source.

➡️ Billy Reid is NOT proven to be the single Denver Pr******te Killer.

➡️ Vincent Groves has been conclusively connected to numerous murders from the same era.

➡️ Joe Michael Ervin was later proven through DNA to have killed four women during the period.

➡️ Thomas Martin Elliott was proven through DNA to have killed Teree Becker in 1975.

➡️ And in 2025, DNA finally connected Rhonda Fisher’s 1987 murder to Vincent Groves, nearly four decades later.

And that’s what makes this case so fu***ng fascinating:

For years, detectives were looking for ONE monster.

Modern DNA has increasingly shown that Denver may have been dealing with SEVERAL.

There may still be victims sitting inside those old files whose killers have never been identified.

THE DENVER POST
SEPT. 1, 2012
Serial Killers worked the streets 75-95

*Between 1975 and 1995, roughly twice a year, the body of a young woman or girl was discovered along rural roads, fields and isolated areas surrounding Denver.
* Many victims were teenagers.
* A large number of the cases remained unsolved for decades.
* Investigators began looking at these murders collectively rather than treating every homicide as an isolated case.

So…
According to detectives interviewed for the investigation, they believed 4 and potentially as many as 6 serial killers could have been operating in the Denver area during that 20-year period.

That is what makes this article so significant.

Police weren’t necessarily saying one killer committed all of these murders. Instead, detectives believed the Denver area may have been experiencing multiple serial killers simultaneously, with some cases potentially overlapping.

A group of cold case detectives from different Denver-area law-enforcement agencies had begun collaborating.

The article describes the detectives’ effort as essentially trying to connect decades old murders through forensic evidence & patterns.

THE CONNECTION TO THE “DENVER PR******TE KILLER”

One of the major threads was the group of murders eventually associated with the Denver Pr******te Killer.

Those cases involved predominantly young women & girls, many of whom were vulnerable or involved in prostitution. Bodies were frequently discovered in isolated areas around the Denver metro region.

The 2012 article was NOT saying every one of those murders was committed by the same person.

It was examining the possibility that several different serial killers were hunting victims in the Denver area during the same period.

🤯 WHY THIS ARTICLE IS SO WILD

The article essentially paints Denver from 1975–1995 as an area where numerous women & girls were disappearing & being murdered, while investigators struggled to determine whether they were dealing with:

ONE killer…
SEVERAL killers…
or multiple unrelated murderers whose cases happened to look similar?

In 2012, investigators were still trying to answer that question using newly available DNA technology.

That’s why this article is such a fascinating piece of the Colorado serial killer history, it captures what investigators believed at that exact point in time, before many later cold case developments.