The Jessica Arredondo cold case centers on the November 25, 1988 abduction and killing of a 21-year-old U.S. West directory assistance operator who was taken from the scene of a minor car accident in Denver and beaten to death, her body dumped in a Larimer County ravine the next day. The prime suspect is Robert Harlan, a former co-worker later convicted of a separate 1994 kidnapping and murder, but no one has ever been charged in Arredondo’s death.1Colorado Bureau of Investigation. Cold Case Detail – Jessica Arredondo
The Night She Was Taken
On the evening of November 25, 1988, Arredondo dropped her boyfriend off at Neil’s, a bar in the Denver enclave of Glendale.1Colorado Bureau of Investigation. Cold Case Detail – Jessica Arredondo Her red 1988 Ford Mustang convertible was found a short time later a few blocks away at East 7th Street and Jackson Street.2Longmont Leader. Cold Case: Larimer Police Still Seek Information About Brutal Homicide The car looked as though it had been in a minor collision. Its flashers were on. The doors were locked.3Westword. Ten Unsolved Colorado Murders on National Day of Remembrance
Witnesses told police they saw Arredondo being taken from the accident scene by several unknown men.1Colorado Bureau of Investigation. Cold Case Detail – Jessica Arredondo The other driver in the collision was never publicly identified, and the record does not show whether investigators concluded the crash had been staged.
Where Her Body Was Found
The next day, November 26, 1988, two tourists found Arredondo’s body in a ravine off a turnoff on U.S. Highway 36 near Estes Park in Larimer County, roughly 70 miles northwest of where she had last been seen.4Parents of Murdered Children. Jessica Arredondo – Murder Wall Stories The coroner determined she died from fatal blows to the head.5KDVR. Cold Case: Who Murdered Jessica Arredondo 33 Years Ago Her family has said she was severely beaten and kicked.
Robert Harlan, the Prime Suspect
The case went cold, then narrowed years later through workplace interviews. Investigators speaking with Arredondo’s former co-workers at U.S. West identified Robert Harlan as a suspect.6Larimer County. Unsolved Homicides Harlan had also worked at U.S. West as an information operator in 1988.3Westword. Ten Unsolved Colorado Murders on National Day of Remembrance The Coloradoan named him the “prime suspect” in 2015.7Coloradoan. NoCo Cold Cases Haunt Detectives, Families Harlan has denied killing her.
Harlan is already serving life for a strikingly similar crime. On February 12, 1994, he abducted 25-year-old cocktail waitress Rhonda Maloney from a parking lot in Golden, Colorado. When Maloney escaped briefly into the car of a passing motorist, Jaquie Creazzo, Harlan pursued them on Interstate 25 and fired shots that left Creazzo paralyzed, then forced Maloney back into his vehicle. Her body was found a week later; she had been sexually assaulted and shot in the head. A 1995 jury convicted him of first-degree murder, felony murder, two counts of attempted first-degree murder, two counts of second-degree kidnapping, and assault.8FindLaw. People v. Harlan His original death sentence was vacated by the Colorado Supreme Court in 2005, and he was resentenced to life without parole.9CBS News. Jury’s Bible Use Nixes Sentence
No charges have ever been filed against Harlan, or anyone else, in Arredondo’s killing.
Why the Case Is Still Open
Because Arredondo’s body was found in Larimer County, the case belongs to the Larimer County Sheriff’s Office, filed as case number 88-18317.1Colorado Bureau of Investigation. Cold Case Detail – Jessica Arredondo The Colorado Bureau of Investigation’s cold case unit has also worked on it.10Western Slope Now. Cold Case: Who Murdered Jessica Arredondo 33 Years Ago Larimer County’s cold case detective, Capt. Robert Coleman, has overseen the county’s 12 unsolved homicides.7Coloradoan. NoCo Cold Cases Haunt Detectives, Families
The CBI maintains a statewide database of more than 1,700 unresolved cases and in 2025 began facilitating identifications through forensic investigative genetic genealogy, though none so far have involved Arredondo.11Colorado Bureau of Investigation. 2025 CBI Annual Report
Anyone with information can contact the Larimer County Sheriff’s Office at 970-498-5100 or Metro Denver Crime Stoppers at 720-913-7867. Tips to Crime Stoppers can be anonymous and may qualify for a reward of up to $2,000.5KDVR. Cold Case: Who Murdered Jessica Arredondo 33 Years Ago
How Her Family Remembers Her
Her family has told her story through the National Organization of Parents of Murdered Children, remembering her as “Jessie,” a former head cheerleader who loved soccer and her red Mustang. They wrote that her killer “deprived us not only of the enjoyment of her company but also of ever having grandchildren by Jessica,” and that “a murderer does not realize how many people are affected” by one act of violence.4Parents of Murdered Children. Jessica Arredondo – Murder Wall Stories