Families of Victims of Homicide and Missing PersonsDarcie Anderson, 24
Darrell Criddelbaugh, then a delivery man for General Welding Repair Service at 1965 S. Bannock St., recalled noticing the yellow 1970 Oldsmobile parked in a muddy alley near the business.
The windows of the car were frosted over, an indication that it had been sitting there for some time, according to a Denver Post article at the time.
The car seemed to match the description of one owned by a woman who had been missing from Castle Rock for several days. When he looked at the license plate, the number EJA-680 matched that of the woman, Darcie Anderson, 24, a mother of a 6-year-old boy.
When police opened the trunk they found Anderson’s body draped over a toy she had purchased for her son three days before Christmas in 1986. She was wearing a black jogging suit but no shoes. Her right arm was lying over a box containing a Sesame Street Big Bird Globe. Police found spots of blood inside and out of the car.
The body of the 24-year-old single Castle Rock woman had been discovered found six days after she disappeared and failed to show up for the two jobs she worked to take care of her young son, according to a story by former Denver Post reporter Steve Garnass.
She had been kidnapped some time either on the night of Dec. 16 or the morning of Dec. 17, strangled and abandoned in her car on a muddy alley on the 1900 block of South Bannock Street in Denver. Her body was discovered on Dec. 22. Bruises indicated that she had been beaten, but no indication was found at the time that she had been sexually assaulted.
Her son Tony was found unharmed in their home. The case, which was widely reported, triggered an outpouring of concern by people who donated gifts to the child including a Teddy Bear that the boy named after his mother.
Detectives ruled out two boyfriends and her ex-husband Michael Anderson as suspects. They had divored in 1983.
Her father, Max Heacock, has said her former boyfriends had tempers, one from Wyoming and the other a state trooper who had worked in the Governor’s office. She had told her father that she could handle the trooper’s temper.
Darcie Anderson liked sewing, Heacock, a contractor, said. She enjoyed making things with her hands. Her Dad, Max Heacock, still has some of her embroidery that he treasures. Darcie also loved the outdoors, especially horseback riding.
She worked six days a week from 2 a.m. to 5 a.m. at the Castle Rock Country Bakery where she decorated cakes and made doughnuts and from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. as a receptionist at a Glendale real estate company so she arose early each morning to go to work.
On the morning she disappeared she left her purse in her house. Police had speculated that she was abducted in her garage. She may have been warming her car up. She would put her son in a sleeping bag and carry him into the bakery where he would sleep while she worked.
Her boss at the bakery found Tony alone in his house. He had put on socks and jeans. He told the woman who found him that his mommy never left him.
Several newspaper articles appeared in The Denver Post while people searched for Darcie and her car. People were searching for her body in private planes. More than 300 women attended a karate self defense seminar in Castle Rock.
The article, written in 1988, two years after the murder, quoted a former Denver sergeant as saying that detectives had strong evidence that Anderson was kidnapped by a man who intended to hold her for a $80,000 ransom, which the suspect was to seek from her father.
A witness had come forward and said he was planning to kidnap Anderson and her son a week before Christmas in 1986, believing that the grandfather would want to see his daughter and grandson home by Christmas.
But prosecutors determined there was not enough evidence at the time to file charges. The suspect had an alibi. But the detective thought it was just too much of a coincidence.
No arrests were ever made.
Anyone with information that could help solve the case is asked to call Denver Crime Stoppers at (720) 913-7867 . Denver Post staff writer Kirk Mitchell can be reached at 303-954-1206 or kmitchell@denverpost.com. Follow him on Twitter @KmitchellDP for updates on this case case and others.