A team of forensic anthropologists, FBI specialists and Chaffee County law enforcement officers discovered bones believed to be those of a woman missing since 1980 and relics that could explain how she died in a case long believed to be a homicide.
Experts from around the country ascended steep inclines of Mount Shavano in Chaffee County last week in a search for the remains of 32-year-old Beverly England, a mother of two young children, who vanished on June 12, 1980.
“The operation lasted five days and it proved to be very successful in that numerous human remains, believed to be that of Beverly England, along with several items believed to be associated with her death, were recovered and collected as evidence,” Sheriff John Spezze said in a statement.
Spezze said there were several remains that displayed possible damage that could reveal a cause of England’s death. Many law enforcement officers believe England was involved in a love triangle.
More than 30 law enforcement officials, including Chaffee County deputies, Salida police officers, members of the Chaffee County Coroner’s Office and FBI agents, excavated a small area 10 miles northwest of where hunters had discovered human bones in 1992.
The search 26 years ago only recovered a few bones that were later determined to be England’s remains, Spezze said during an interview last week.
All of the human remains that were recovered last week will now be sent to the pathology department of the University of Northern Texas, where they will be analyzed for identification, Spezze said.
In 1980, England dropped her two small children off at the home of a fellow member of the Temple Baptist Church so that she could meet a pregnant woman at Riverside Park, according to a previous interview with Leonard Post, who was at the time the chief of the Salida Police Department.
The woman England was to meet with was the wife of a man who was having an affair with England, Post had said.
England was married to school teacher Dale England and worked at the Homestake Mine. She parked a few hundred feet from the Arkansas River, which was flowing above flood levels. It was the morning of June 12, 1980. She left her shoes and purse in her car.
“There was a meeting between these two ladies about this affair,” Post has said.
After the meeting at Riverside Park, England was never seen alive again. A police officer went to speak with the woman England was supposed to meet that day and she had injuries, Post has said. But the woman declined to speak with the officer. She requested legal counsel, he said.
Updated 1:15 p.m. Oct. 2, 2018 Due to a reporting error, this story originally misidentified the scientists participating in the search. The experts were forensic anthropologists.
