2/17/2021 Body of Missing Colorado Girl Found at Pipeline Site After 34 Years | PEOPLE.com Body of Missing Colorado Girl Found at Pipeline Site 34 Years After She Disappeared DATE FILED: February 24, 2021 3:46 PM Jonelle Matthews went missing shortly before Christmas in 1984, and her case caught national attention at the time By 145 https://people.com/human-interest/body-missing-colorado-girl-found-pipeline-site-34-years-disappearance/ 1/3 2/17/2021 Body of Missing Colorado Girl Found at Pipeline Site After 34 Years | PEOPLE.com https://people.com/human-interest/body-missing-colorado-girl-found-pipeline-site-34-years-disappearance/ 2/3 2/17/2021 Body of Missing Colorado Girl Found at Pipeline Site After 34 Years | PEOPLE.com https://people.com/human-interest/body-missing-colorado-girl-found-pipeline-site-34-years-disappearance/ 3/3 DATE FILED: February 24, 2021 3:46 PM 10/11/95 Rocky Mtn. News 5A 1995 WLNR 650120 Denver Rocky Mountain News (CO) 146 Copyright 1995 Denver Publishing Co. October 11, 1995 146 Section: LOCAL CALIFORNIAN ACCUSED OF ‘93 SLAYING GRANDFATHER OF ALIE BERRELEZ SHOCKS POLICE BY IMPLICATING SAN DIEGO MAN CHARLIE BRENNAN ROCKY MOUNTAIN NEWS STAFF WRITER WESTMINSTER In a move that stunned police, the grieving grandfather of murder victim Alie Berrelez on Tuesday publicly accused a California man of her murder. ”I personally do charge Nicholas Stofer with the crime that was committed against my granddaughter,” Richard Berrelez said. “I charge him with being a coward, for taking a little girl and murdering a little girl.” Stofer, 35, of San Diego could not be reached for comment Tuesday. Attorney Kerry Steigerwalt, who has represented Stofer did not return calls. He has consistently maintained Stofer’s innocence. Berrelez made his remarks at a press conference at the Ranch Country Club, held in conjunction with an annual golf tournament to benefit the ALIE Foundation. The non-profit group was founded by Berrelez and his wife to supply police with tracking dogs and to teach stranger awareness to children. Berrelez’s 5-year-old granddaughter Alie, was abducted May 18, 1993, from in front of her family’s Englewood apartment building. A bloodhound led investigators four days later to Deer Creek Canyon in Jefferson County, where searchers found her body in a duffel bag; she had suffocated. Stofer lived in the same complex as did Alie Berrelez at the time of her disappearance. Englewood police presented evidence against Stofer to the Arapahoe County District Attorney’s office in June 1994, but prosecutors said there wasn’t enough to file charges. Berrelez said he placed no blame on Englewood police or Arapahoe County prosecutors for the lack of a resolution in Alie’s death. But he also implied he won’t wait forever for them to find one. ”I will not forget, and yes, there will be an end to my patience,” Berrelez said. ”I’m just human. I might lose it. And yes, Stofer will have to pay.” Berrelez believes Stofer has relatives in Colorado. He’s encouraging Stofer’s family to put pressure on him “to do the right © 2021 Thomson Reuters. No claim to original U.S. Government Works. 2 thing.” ”We can stir the waters. We can shake the trees,” Berrelez said. He didn’t rule out confronting Stofer himself. Law enforcement personnel involved would not publicly criticize Berrelez for Tuesday’s comments. But privately, they were troubled by his accusations. ”Obviously, we’ve put hundreds and hundreds of man hours into this case,” said Englewood Sgt. Rick Forbes. “And to come up empty, without a successful prosecution, is very frustrating.” INFOBOX OTHER UNSOLVED ABDUCTIONS March 17, 1993: Michael Chandler, 4 1/2, is snatched from a Denver child-care center. He is found the next day wandering in a field. July 22, 1991: Jakeob McKnight, 10, is found stabbed to death near Bear Creek. June 12, 1989: The mother of Anthony Moya, 2, wakes up to find her Lakewood apartment door open and the toddler missing from his bed. July 14, 1986: Christopher Abeyta, 7 months, is abducted from his Colorado Springs home. Dec. 20, 1984: After a friend drops Jonelle Matthews, 12, off at her house in Greeley, her father arrives home to find the girl gone. Compiled by News librarians Janet Boss and Carol Kasel LIB3 LIB3 COLOR PHOTO (3) Alie Berrelez. FILE: BERRELEZ, ALIE Richard Berrelez. FILE: BERRELEZ, RICHARD Nicholas Stofer. FILE: STOFER, NICHOLAS SEE END OF TEXT FOR INFOBOX ---- Index References ---- News Subject: (Violent Crime (1VI27); Crime (1CR87); Judicial (1JU36); Legal (1LE33); Social Issues (1SO05); Criminal Law (1CR79); Police (1PO98)) Region: (USA (1US73); Americas (1AM92); Colorado (1CO26); North America (1NO39); California (1CA98)) Language: EN Other Indexing: (ALIE; ALIE FOUNDATION; COLOR; DEER CREEK CANYON; INFOBOX; RANCH COUNTRY CLUB; WESTMINSTER) (Alie; Alie Berrelez; Anthony Moya; Attorney Kerry Steigerwalt; Berrelez; CALIFORNIAN ACCUSED; Carol Kasel; Dec; Englewood; Janet Boss; Jonelle Matthews; Law; Nicholas Stofer; Richard Berrelez; Rick © 2021 Thomson Reuters. No claim to original U.S. Government Works. 3 Forbes; Stofer) Edition: FINAL Word Count: 638 End of Document © 2021 Thomson Reuters. No claim to original U.S. Government Works. © 2021 Thomson Reuters. No claim to original U.S. Government Works. 4 © 2021 Thomson Reuters. No claim to original U.S. Government Works. 5 DATE FILED: February 24, 2021 3:46 PM 12/22/94 Rocky Mtn. News 28A 1994 WLNR 565786 Denver Rocky Mountain News (CO) Copyright 1994 Denver Publishing Co. December 22, 1994 Section: LOCAL TEN YEARS AFTER GIRL’S DISAPPEARANCE, HER FAMILY SAYS GOODBYE ASSOCIATED PRESS GREELEY Dozens of people filed through a Greeley church earlier this week to say goodbye to a girl missing for 10 years. Jonelle Matthews was 12 years old on Dec. 20, 1984, when she apparently was abducted from her family’s west Greeley home. ”Tonight is a time to say goodbye for us,” said Gloria Matthews, the girl’s mother, speaking before a packed Sunny View Church Tuesday night. Matthews, her husband, Jim, and the girl’s sister, Jennifer Morgensen, were joined by about 250 others in a final farewell. Police investigators have been baffled by Jonelle’s disappearance. Her parents wanted to lay to rest their hopes of their daughter being found alive. ”Tonight is like a funeral we never had for Jonelle - it’s a closure,” her mother said. At the service, family and friends passed a photo display showing Jonelle in her childhood, in school, on reward posters and on a milk carton. Slides of the missing girl were flashed on a screen in the church. Jonelle was adopted by the Matthews when she was a month old. Pastor Jim Christy said time has stood still for Jonelle. ”She lived in another era, just 10 years ago, but we have changed so much. Much of life is so quickly and easily discarded, but we want to keep the lasting memories of Jonelle,” Christy said. A bloodhound, donated to the Larimer County sheriff’s office in Fort Collins in Jonelle’s name, was presented at the memorial. The dog was donated by the Allie Berelez Foundation. © 2021 Thomson Reuters. No claim to original U.S. Government Works. 147 6 LIB2 LIB2 ---- Index References ---- Language: EN Other Indexing: (ALLIE BERELEZ FOUNDATION; GIRL; GREELEY; POLICE; TEN; TONIGHT) (Gloria Matthews; Jennifer Morgensen; Jim; Jonelle; Jonelle Matthews; Matthews; Pastor Jim Christy; Sunny View Church) Edition: REGIONAL Word Count: 296 End of Document © 2021 Thomson Reuters. No claim to original U.S. Government Works. © 2021 Thomson Reuters. No claim to original U.S. Government Works. 7 © 2021 Thomson Reuters. No claim to original U.S. Government Works. 8 DATE FILED: February 24, 2021 3:46 PM 5/23/93 Rocky Mtn. News 3A 1993 WLNR 512849 Denver Rocky Mountain News (CO) Copyright 1993 Denver Publishing Co. May 23, 1993 Section: LOCAL GIRL’S BODY FOUND IN DUFFEL BAG DUMPED IN DEER CREEK CANYON BLOODHOUND TRACKS GIRL ACROSS TOWN INTO FOOTHILLS; POLICE NOW SEARCH FOR KILLER JOHN ENSSLIN AND MICHAEL MEHLE ROCKY MOUNTAIN NEWS STAFF WRITERS A bloodhound who helped lead police to the body of 5-year-old Aleszandra “Alie” Berrelez remained hot on the trail of her killer late Saturday night. A search team found the little girl stuffed inside a dirty khaki-color duffel bag near a creek in Jefferson County’s Deer Creek Canyon around 11:15 a.m. By 10 p.m. Englewood detectives were following Yogi, an Aurora Police tracking dog, as he sniffed the trail in reverse in southwest metro area. Police said they still have no firm suspects in the case. However, Saturday’s grisly, hope-dashing discovery gave them the first significant break in the case since Alie vanished from outside her family’s apartment Tuesday night. ”We found exactly what we didn’t want to find,” said Englewood Sgt. Byron Wicks, who led a team of 22 Arapahoe Rescue Squad members and three Jefferson County deputies into the canyon. ”I think everybody felt let down and really bad,” Wicks said, staring down at his boots. “Nobody said much.” On Friday, the bloodhound followed the scent on Ali’s clothes from her family’s Englewood apartment to the canyon west of Chatfield Reservoir. Law enforcement officials resumed the search on foot Saturday morning. ”I can’t believe someone could do that to someone. She’s just a baby,” said Dana Gonzales, the best friend of Alie’s mother, Marivel Berrelez. An autopsy was performed Saturday afternoon, but police would not say how the girl died. She suffered from asthma and required four daily doses of Proventil, a prescription drug.