Woodland Park Police believe new technology could provide more evidence in 2010 death case
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (KRDO) - The death of a young Woodland Park mother is being re-investigated after 13 years.
Mindy Lee, 33, was first reported missing on Thursday, Nov. 26, 2010. Five days later on Dec. 1, 2010, Lee was found dead behind Woodland Park High School.
In 2010, KRDO reported the Teller County Coroner found "very high levels of methamphetamine and amphetamine" in Lee's body. However, the coroner stated her cause of death was hypothermia caused by "methamphetamine intoxication." Her death was ruled accidental.
A year later in 2011, Lee's mother Vicki White told KRDO she received a phone call from some of Lee's friends who claimed she was sick and they were taking her to a hospital. Three hours later, White said the same people called back claiming Lee had run off without shoes or a jacket in a different part of town.
Former homicide investigator Bobby Brown told KRDO during a 2011 interview his team wasn't satisfied with the course the Woodland Park Police took in the investigation.
“We do not agree with the police department’s initial ruling that this is a case that does not involve foul play,” Brown told KRDO 12 years ago.
Now, the Woodland Park Police Department said an administration determination from the office of the chief of police was to reactivate Lee's case.
In a statement released Thursday, WPPD said, "As oftentimes the case with the passage of time, technology, advances in forensics, and community engagement may reveal additional leads or information we can use to further investigate cases like Mindy's."
The statement goes on to say the WPPD, along with the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and the Teller County Sheriff's Office, will begin the process of examining the case for ways to garner additional information related to Lee's death.
Ahead of this decision, a Change.org petition was started in 2019 to get "justice and answers" for Lee and her family. On the petition, the organizer accuses the WPPD of "missteps" and that police "muddled up what really happened" to Lee.
Organizer Chris Collins Danlin wrote on the petition that search dogs allegedly "hit" an abandoned house on day three of her missing but it was never "thoroughly" searched.
Police are asking anyone in the community with information to please come forward. People can submit a tip anonymously through the Pikes Peak Area Crime Stoppers online or by calling 719-634-7867.
According to her obituary, Lee left behind two daughters.
