Kaylee Russell, Evans, Colorado, 20 year old woman who went missing over the weekend while driving and after calling her dad over a flat tire found dead in submerged car in Weld County.
A 20-year-old woman who went missing over the weekend was located in northern Colorado after her body was found inside a crashed car in rural lands on Thursday.
Colorado State Police said divers located a body inside the vehicle. They didn’t officially identify that person. Nevertheless, the deceased woman’s family confirmed the dreaded news.
Kaylee Russell, 20, ‘has been found and unfortunately, she did not survive,’ stated a GoFundMe Fundraiser post on Friday.
Missing 20-year-old found deceased in overturned car in rural canal
On Tuesday afternoon, the Colorado Bureau of Investigation (CBI) issued an endangered missing alert for the 20-year-old. According to the alert, Russell of Evans, was last seen around 6 p.m. on Sunday near the Loveland/Johnstown Park-N-Ride parking lot. This is near Highway 402 and Interstate 25.
CBI said that day that investigators were concerned for her safety.
Her phone stopped sharing data on Sunday evening, Denver7 reported.
Amid the investigation into Russell’s disappearance, first responders headed to an area just northeast of the Timnath Reservoir — which is about 15 miles north of the park-n-ride where she was last seen — around 2 p.m, Thursday after learning about a single-car crash in a canal.
CBI, Colorado State Patrol (CSP), Evans Police Department and the Larimer County Sheriff’s Office responded and found a black 2016 Volkswagen Tiguan overturned in the waterway. CSP confirmed it was Russell’s car and said a body was inside.
20-year-old found close to where her father had come out to help her change flat tyre
Russell’s aunt Renee Shook told Denver7 at the scene that ‘police told us it was her car and she was in it.’
The vehicle was towed out of the water around 4:50 p.m.
Leading up to Russell’s disappearance, Russell had called her father about a flat tire, with the parent coming out and replacing it and then helping her finish delivering packages. The 20-year-old then brought her father back to his pickup, with the parent explaining a route for her to follow. Investigators previously said that drop-off happened at the Park-n-Ride, and that she was headed to a friend’s house afterward, only to never show up.
On Wednesday night, Russell’s mother, Rebecca urged the public to help with the search for her daughter. People responded, and began searching the roads, canals and ditches in the area where she was last seen. Several of those people said they hoped things would have turned out differently with their search.
Rebecca described her daughter as a ‘beautiful soul’ who ‘loved hard.’ She praised Russell’s independence, noting she could be ‘hard headed and stubborn.’
CSP’s Vehicular Crimes Unit is investigating the tragic crash.
