Amanda Leariel Overstreet was last seen alive in 2005 – when she was 16 years old – but her disappearance was never reported. Last Friday, nearly 20 years later, authorities have announced that her frozen head and hands have been positively identified.
Investigators are now working to figure out how they got there.
So far, the rest of Overstreet’s body has not been found and her death is being investigated as a homicide, according to the Mesa County Coroner’s Office. Her biological mother was the previous owner of the house, law enforcement said.
According to the Mesa County Sheriff’s Office in Colorado, someone arrived to claim a free freezer offered by the new owner of a recently sold home on the 2988 block of Pinyon Avenue in Grand Junction on Jan. 12 of this year. When deputies arrived, they found that a human head and human hands were found in the appliance.
KHOU reported that a neighbor said that when people showed up to buy the freezer opened it up to remove meat that was inside, a human head fell out of a plastic bag. After the hands were also discovered, months of testing followed to identify the remains. DNA testing eventually led to a positive identification of Overstreet’s remains.
Before moving to Grand Junction, Overstreet grew up in the Houston, Texas, area, according to records cited by the Austin American-Statesman. Houston Public Media also reported the Mesa County Sheriff’s Office said Monday that no arrests have been made at this time and that authorities have not publicly identified any possible suspects. CBS News reported that authorities said no information other than what has been included in press releases was available as of Tuesday.
Mesa County Sheriff’s Office spokeswoman Wendy Likes spoke to DailyMail.com and revealed that the previous owner of the home (Overstreet’s mother) is a 55-year-old woman named Leanne and that her late husband, Bradley Imer, was Amanda Overstreet’s stepfather. Additionally, Likes said Leanne still lives in Grand Junction.
“Likes declined to comment whether the biological father had been identified or interviewed by police,” said the outlet.
There is a 2021 Facebook fundraiser page for Imer’s burial and medical expenses. Per that page, he died after being admitted to the ICU with COVID-19. Leanne and Imer had two children, Elsie Belle and Anthony Imer, the Daily Mail said.
“Neighbors said they saw a young male living with Leanne and described them as ‘hoarders,’” the outlet added.
In a Friday Facebook post, the Mesa County Sheriff’s Office said that the home is now under new ownership “completely unrelated to the previous case,” and that the home has been fully remodeled.
“We urge you to respect the current owner and their neighbors' privacy and avoid driving by the home or taking photos,” said the post.