Woman Shot And Left For Dead In Ditch Identified, Ruled Homicide

COLORADO SPRINGS – The El Paso County Sheriff’s Office has identified the woman found by a school bus driver Monday morningon Book Drive as 35-year-old Jennifer Warren.

The El Paso County Coroner’s Officesays the cause of deathwas a gunshot wound and has ruled this case a homicide.

The Shooting happened Monday near the intersection of Book and Milne just southeast of Schriever Air Force Base.

High winds Monday made the investigation tough. Detectives worked quickly to get the scene processed; trying to collect any evidence before it could blow away. “If there’s anyone who’s looking for a loved one, a female, unfortunately, we need to know,” says Lt. Lari Sevene with the El Paso County Sheriff’s Office.

About 7:15 a.m. Monday, a bus driver spotted body, a woman in her 20s, lying in the ditch off the gravel road. She called dispatchers. Sheriff’s deputies arrived to find the woman, with an obvious gunshot wound.

Deputies say Book is a well-traveled road and they don’t think the woman was in the ditch any longer than overnight. There were children on the bus when the driver spotted the body. She drove down the road and parked out of the children’s view. The kids were later transferred to another bus.

The driver remained on the scene much of the morning, cooperating with investigators. Sheriff’s deputies say they have not yet gotten any missing person reports.