Relative Finds Body Of Victim During Welfare Check

"MONTROSE, CO — A woman checking a relative's home Wednesday made a gruesome discovery—the body of a woman, shot multiple times, in an upstairs area.

"Montrose County Sheriff's deputies who rushed to the scene also found a man dead in the remnants of a shed on the property, at 19545 Pahgre Road. He had sustained a gunshot wound to the head.

"`We have no reason to believe this is anything other than a murder suicide,` Sheriff Rick Dunlap said Thursday.

"Dunlap isn't releasing the victims' names at this time, until identities are confirmed and pending notification of next of kin.

"The sheriff's first inkling of trouble came Tuesday night, in the form of a phone call. A woman reported her friend had never returned to pick up her child, and this was not like her. The witness also said she had called her friend's work in Ridgway, and learned the other woman had never shown up, or called in.

"`We immediately entered her as a concern for welfare and as an attempt to locate, because it was out of character,` Dunlap said.

"The caller also drove by Pahgre Road and spotted her friend's car there. The home belonged to the missing woman's ex-boyfriend, Dunlap said.

"`We tried to locate (the victim) by cell phone. We were unable to get location by tracking her cell phone. Deputies called multiple times,` he said.

"On Wednesday, based upon information investigators had gleaned about the woman's relationship with her ex, the case was upgraded to a missing and possible endangered person.

"At 12:31 p.m., the 911 call came. A relative of the man who lived at the Pahgre Road address had entered the home, gone upstairs, and discovered the missing woman's body.

"Dunlap said deputies had not entered the home on Tuesday because they had no cause to do so without a warrant, and there was insufficient probable cause for a warrant."

From the Montrose Daily Press...