Colorado Springs police: Jennifer Cleland’s death not considered suspicious
Despite many comments claiming foul play on social media, Colorado Springs police have confirmed Jennifer Cleland’s case is not being considered suspicious.
You may remember she was reported missing by family members Sunday and found dead Tuesday in a single-vehicle accident.
At the scene, officers located her 2006 Dodge Stratus in the 2100 block of South Circle Drive. Inside the vehicle, they found Cleland.
Investigators say she drove off the right-hand shoulder of the road, down an embankment, and hit a tree. They believe her body had been in the car since she disappeared on Saturday.
Cleland’s brother, Richard Masson, told KRDO, “It’s unbelievable, she’s such a safe driver.” However, Masson says he doesn’t think the crash in and of its self is suspicious.
Her family originally thought she went missing from the Neighborhood Walmart parking lot off of Lelaray Street and Union Blvd.
The family said employees had told them a woman matching her description was in the store and may have left her groceries and mug in a shopping cart.
“An incident happened at Walmart where she was shopping with her coffee cup and got groceries and left and then a man later brought in her cart full of groceries. My sister always carries a coffee cup,” said her brother Richard Masson. “It hasn’t been confirmed, but sounds like her.”
But Colorado Springs Police say after reviewing surveillance footage from the parking lot, they don’t believe she was at the Neighborhood Walmart at all on Saturday. Masson says police told him they did see her wearing a pink shirt, black shorts and pink flip-flops in surveillance footage at Sam’s Club, the store she told her family she was in before saying she was going to Walmart.
We still don’t know if Cleland died of the impact of that crash or if she later died of her injuries. The El Paso County Coroner’s Office says they will release that information after the autopsy results are complete.
We’ll have more on this story throughout the day and tonight on NewsChannel 13.
