Tim Masters was a 15-year-old sophomore at Fort Collins High School when he spotted something that didn’t look real on his way to his bus stop.
Peggy Hettrick, 37
Courtesy Fort Collins Police
He walked up to within six feet of the woman’s body that lay on her back in a field about 100 feet from the 3800 block of South Landings Drive. Her bra, blouse and black coat had been pushed up above her breasts; her panties and bluejeans had been pulled down to her knees.
It was also only 100 feet from the trailer where Masters lived with his father. To Masters, it looked more like a mannequin. It was very real though.
It was the body of 37-year-old Peggy Lee Hettrick.
Hettrick was a college dropout and aspiring writer who was known for wearing fanciful hats while she worked as manager of the accessories department in the old Fashion Bar clothing store. An avid cook, she packed lunches of shrimp and avocado. She was writing a book. Her half-written, neatly typed novel about diamond smugglers was in a drawer in her apartment.