Pueblo woman says she found a body in a freezer in her backyard
PUEBLO, Colo. (KRDO) - On December 24, 2024, the Pueblo Police Department (PPD) was called to the 2300 block of Main Street at around 11:18 a.m. There a man was found dead, police said. The Pueblo County Coroner's office identified the man as 34-year-old Eric Anthony Tress.
One woman tells KRDO13 that she found the man dead in a freezer in her backyard. She asked not to share her name but was willing to share her story.
The woman said she saw what she thought was her neighbor's trash in her yard, but when she took a closer look, she says she was faced with the lifeless body of Eric Tress.
"I never was so shocked in my life," recounted the woman.
The 90-year-old woman has seen a lot in her time but never something as horrific as this.
"At first you think, am I seeing what I'm seeing? And then it hits you. And that's when I started crying," shared the neighbor.
She said she couldn't stop crying and calling her sons to come help her handle the situation. Her sons assisted with calling local authorities, who she says quickly swarmed the street.
"I counted I don't know, about eight police cars all the way around to there (the end of her street)," explained the woman.
She showed KRDO13 where she says she found 34-year-old Eric Tress dead in a freezer in her yard. The 90-year-old said nobody deserves a death like that.
"Poor kid. Think of his parents, his mother, and stuff, you know, being a mother I had seven," shared the woman.
Another neighbor close by explained to KRDO13 how he owns the freezer Tress was found in, but said he has no idea what happened. When he heard the news, he says he broke up crying.
"I hope that his mom and his sister and his family get justice for it," shared neighbor Ray Southard.
Southard says he was planning on Tress moving in with him.
"He had no place to go. And I was hoping that he could help me out, and I could help him out, but someone stole that away," said Southard.
PPD says this incident has not been ruled a homicide, this case is still being investigated as a suspicious death. Officials tell KRDO13 they're still waiting for additional reports to determine Tress’ cause of death.
