CALEB PACHECO - 3 yo (2011) - Sterling CO

STERLING, Colo. -- The family of a 3-year-old Sterling boy who has been missing for a year said that authorities have found skeletal remains underneath his home.

The boy's mother, Juanita Kinzie, is being held on charges of first-degree murder, according to court documents.

The boy's uncle, Cogee Fields, told 7NEWS that Caleb Pacheco hasn't been seen since January 2011. Fields said they have asked Kinzie about his whereabouts but she hasn't been responding to the family

On Jan. 17, 2012, the family created a Facebook page to get the community to help find him. One of the first posts, written in Caleb's voice, said, "The reason my family has started this page is they need help in finding me I was last seen in mid-January 2011 with my mother leaving my aunt's home. That was the last time my family has seen me. There is not an AMBER ALERT for me at this time as the local authorities have to make contact with my mother and father to verify I am missing. My mother is not responding in an effort to help in finding me, therefore it slows the process down. So my family is reaching out to the community for help with sightings and the whereabouts of me."

Fields said the family contacted police a year ago, but apparently there was no reason to suspect foul play. Family members said they tried contacting Social Services in three counties to ask for a welfare check but because authorities didn't know Kinzie's whereabouts, they couldn't do a welfare check without an address.

His family said Caleb's mother moved around a lot.

Family members contacted the Logan County Sheriff's Office again last week, and deputies executed a search warrant at a mobile home where Caleb's family used to live before they moved out about six months ago. That's where they found the body of a child believed to be Caleb, family members said.

Logan County deputies would not confirm that the remains belong to Caleb only saying that while investigating a report that a 3-year-old child had not been seen for some time, they found the child dead. They did not identify the child nor the suspect held in the case.

Fields said authorities told him they're 90 percent sure the remains found under the mobile home are those of his nephew.

"As you know, trailer homes are designed to sit up off the ground. He was found underneath the trailer home, and not buried in the ground, wrapped in a blanket, along with a few other items they didn't disclose," Fields said. "The remains are unidentifiable. We're looking at skeletal remains."

Logan County Sheriff's deputies said an autopsy will be performed on the child this week.
http://www.thedenverchannel.com/news/30277470/detail.html

Mother Of Dead Toddler Accused Of Murder

Child's Skeletonized Remains Found Under Sterling Mobile Home

By Lance Hernandez, 7NEWS Reporter
POSTED: 8:20 am MST January 23, 2012

STERLING, Colo. -- Investigators told 7NEWS that the remains of a child found under a Sterling mobile home are those of 3-year-old Caleb Pacheco.They said the boy's mother, Juanita Kinzie, is being held for investigation of first-degree murder.The boy's uncle, Cogee Fields, said extended family members last saw Pacheco alive in January 2011.He said the boy’s aunt, Yolanda Kinzie-Graber, became Pacheco’s guardian when his mother couldn’t take care of him.

But Juanita Kinzie soon asked for him back.“Yolanda didn’t want to relinquish guardianship,” Fields said. “Social Services said she did have to turn him over to my sister. He was never seen again.”

Fields said they asked Juanita Kinzie about the boy’s whereabouts several times but she didn’t respond.

On Jan. 17, 2012, the family created a Facebook page to get the community to help find him.

One of the first posts, written in Caleb's voice, said, "The reason my family has started this page is they need help in finding me. I was last seen in mid-January 2011 with my mother leaving my aunt's home.
That was the last time my family has seen me.

"There is not an AMBER ALERT for me at this time as the local authorities have to make contact with my mother and father to verify I am missing. My mother is not responding in an effort to help in finding me, therefore it slows the process down. So my family is reaching out to the community for help with sightings and the whereabouts of me."

Fields said the family contacted police a year ago, but was told there was no reason to suspect foul play.

Family members said they tried contacting Social Services in three counties to ask for a welfare check but because authorities didn't know Kinzie's whereabouts, they couldn't do a welfare check without an address.

Family members said Caleb's mother moved around a lot.

They said they contacted the Logan County Sheriff's Office again last week, and deputies executed a search warrant at a mobile home where Caleb's family used to live before they moved out about six months ago. That's where they found the body.

“He was found underneath the trailer,” Fields told 7NEWS. “He wasn’t buried. He was wrapped in a blanket with a few other items that (investigators) didn’t disclose.

”Late Monday, the sheriff’s office sent out a news release, which stated in part:

"Preliminary identification of that child has identified him as Caleb Pacheco, DOB 7/15/08. The autopsy of the body was conducted on 1/23/12, with final autopsy results expected at a later date."

Fields said he was told that the remains were skeletal. “So he’s probably been dead for a while,” the uncle said.

A neighbor told 7NEWS he last saw the boy a few weeks before the family moved out.

When asked when that was, the neighbor said, “Last summer. It was warm out.”

Fields said he doesn’t know what to think about Juanita.

“She’s my sister,” he said. “This is not the sister I raised and protected. We worked together to raise two siblings. This isn’t her. I don’t know what happened.”

Fields said Juanita Kinzie became involved in drugs several years ago.

“Methamphetamine is probably the key drug involved,” he said.

Sean York, the father of one of Caleb’s sisters, told 7NEWS that family members are angry about a breakdown in the system.

“Who could sit there and let a little kid like that be missing for a whole year without doing (expletive?)”

Human Service officials called the boy’s death tragic, and said they couldn’t comment beyond that.The sheriff’s office said a gag order has now been issued in the case.

http://www.thedenverchannel.com/news/30277470/detail.html

STERLING, Colo. -- A mother accused of first-degree murder in the slaying of her 3-year-old son said her son was dead, according to an arrest affidavit obtained by 7NEWS.

Juanita Kinzie was contacted by Denver police on Sunday while they were investigating a disturbance call, the affidavit stated. Paramedics were also called and said Kinzie appeared to be high on methamphetamine when they examined her.

While examining her, Paramedics said Kinzie told them her son, Caleb Pacheco, was dead.


Investigators in Logan County had opened an investigation into the toddler's disappearance a week ago, after they were contacted by family members. The investigators talked to the ex-boyfriend identified as Joshua Dean Briggs, age 24, who was in jail on a number of charges including burglary and assault with a deadly weapon causing serious bodily injury.

http://www.thedenverchannel.com/news/30291833/detail.html

STERLING, Colo. — A woman accused in the death of her 3-year-old son, who was found buried under her trailer in Sterling, has pleaded guilty to two charges.

Juanita Kinzie pleaded guilty Wednesday to second-degree
murder and child abuse resulting in the death of her son, Caleb Pacheco.
Original charges of first-degree murder and concealing a death are
being dropped as part of a plea agreement.

Investigators found the boy's body in January after relatives reported him missing. It's not clear how he died.

Kinzie could face up to 32 years in prison at a sentencing hearing scheduled for May 5.
http://www.therepublic.com/view/story/b17a3f8947ed47cca479451c366ea957/CO--Child-Death-Plea/

I hope she gets the full 32 years.

Sterling mother to be sentenced in murder of her 3-year-old son

Posted: 06/05/2012 08:34:45 AM MDT
Updated: 06/05/2012 09:11:11 AM MDT
By Jordan Steffen, The Denver Post

Juanita Kinzie, who pleaded guilty to killing her 3-year-old son and hiding his body under a Sterling mobile home, will be sentenced today in Logan County District Court.

In April, Kinzie, 24, pleaded guilty to one count of child abuse resulting in death and one count of second-degree murder in the death of her son, Caleb Pacheco.

Caleb's mummified body was found Jan. 22 — wrapped in blankets and plastic — under a mobile home Kinzie and her ex-boyfriend once shared.

An autopsy report has not been released.

Under the plea agreement, the original charges of first-degree murder and concealing a death were dropped.

Each of the two counts carries a stipulated sentence of 32 years in prison. Kinzie will not be given additional jail time at today's hearing. Her sentence will be served concurrently.

Kinzie will become eligible for parole after she serves 24 of the 32 years.

The 32-year sentence is six years longer than the normal sentence range for second-degree murder.

The Colorado Department of Human Services has opened a child-fatality review in Caleb's death. A review is opened when a child dies of suspected abuse or neglect and entered the county child-welfare system two years prior to his or her death.

Months before authorities found Caleb's remains, Kinzie told an ex-boyfriend that her son's body was underneath the mobile home. Kinzie's ex-boyfriend, Joshua Briggs, met with Kinzie at a Castle Rock hotel. There she told him that she had made a mistake and that Caleb was gone, according to an arrest affidavit.

http://www.denverpost.com/breakingnews/ci_20785561/sterling-mother-be-sentenced-murder-her-3-year