A 13 year old missing girl found murdered. Her 18 year old boyfriend a Juggalo
Boyfriend arrested in Broomfield teen's death
18-year-old suspect had helped in search, made pleas for missing girl's return
By Vanessa Miller (Contact)
Originally published 08:00 p.m., January 24, 2009
Updated 08:00 p.m., January 24, 2009
BROOMFIELD, Colo. — Alexander "Alex" Paul Pacheco called Kelsey Shannon "the girl of my dreams" on his MySpace page and spoke of plans to marry her.
In the weeks following the 13-year-old Broomfield girl's disappearance in October, her friends said, Pacheco joined others to knock on doors in an attempt to find Kelsey.
On Saturday -- three days after the teen's body was found in a draining ditch near her home -- Broomfield police arrested 18-year-old Pacheco on suspicion of killing his girlfriend.
Police tracked Pacheco, who lived in the Westlake area of Broomfield, to a home in Lakewood where he was staying. They arrested him with the help of Lakewood police around 1 a.m. Saturday.
"It was a shock when they found her because her boyfriend would go door to door with all of us," said Taylor Smith, 18, who works with Kelsey's father.
Pacheco is being held on suspicion of first-degree murder at the Broomfield County Jail. A bond amount hasn't been set, and officers said he could face additional charges after he makes his first court appearance Monday or Tuesday.
Kelsey, who was an eighth-grader at Westlake Middle School, had been missing since Oct. 14, when she left her home in the Broadlands area after having a fight with her parents, according to police. Her body was found more than three months later -- around 7:20 a.m. Wednesday -- in a ditch near the intersection of 136th Street and Lowell Boulevard.
Broomfield police wouldn't release information on what led them to Pacheco, and they haven't shared details about how Kelsey died or whether they have found a weapon. Broomfield Sgt. Mark Goodell said officers still are investigating the homicide but there are no other suspects in custody.
Officers wouldn't say whether Pacheco and Kelsey had been dating, but Goodell called Pacheco and Kelsey "acquaintances" at the time of her disappearance. Kelsey's family declined interview requests Saturday.
But through a written statement, the teen's family said they continue to have "many unanswered questions" about the Kelsey's death.
"As we await answers, we profoundly grieve over the loss of this precious member or our family who did not run away, but rather was taken away prematurely from us," the statement. "As we honor Kelsey's memory and all of the joy she brought to our lives, we respectfully ask that all of you do the same."
'Her parents disagreed'
On Saturday afternoon, friends gathered around a make-shift memorial on a bridge near where Kelsey's body was found. They said that Pacheco and Kelsey had been "together" and her family wasn't happy about the relationship.
"Her parents disagreed with her hanging out with him," said 18-year-old Stephanie Kostur, whose younger sister was a friend of Kelsey's.
Kostur said she wasn't friends with Pacheco but she saw him around and knew he was part of a "Juggaloes" group. That group, she said, is a gang of people who paint their faces and "do drugs." They post logos of a "little boy with a hatchet" on their cars and shirts, Kostur said.
"They're kind of like violent, suicidal people," she said.
According to news reports, Juggaloes are devoted followers of the Insane Clown Posse, a Detroit hip-hop group. Juggaloes have been associated with gang activity and violence across the nation and in Boulder County.
Pacheco's MySpace page mentions Juggaloes and the Insane Clown Posse. The page shows pictures of him with face paint -- a common Juggalo characteristic -- and features more than a dozen pictures of Kelsey.
At
www.helpfindthemissing.org -- a Web site dedicated to finding missing people -- someone identifying himself as Alex Pacheco posted a Dec. 30 comment about the day Kelsey disappeared and his pleas for her return.
"Every thing seemed peafectly (sic) normal," Pacheco said in an entry with many misspelled words. "We chilled by her school till 4:30 and then her mom picked her up. I got on the bus and went to my moms. Dottie (kelseys mom) said they were going to have diner soon. kelsey was watching spunj bob then she got up and said 'im going for a walk.'"
Pacheco wrote in the Web post that a detective said Kelsey wrote in her journal that she thought Pacheco was cheating on her. He denied it.
"We would always talk about how we were going to get mirred and grow old together," he wrote. "Shes my everything."
Kelsey 'was a child deeply loved'
Adams County Coroner James Hibbard said pathologists used a partial fingerprint, dental records and items of clothing found at the scene to identify Kelsey's body. Hibbard's office is still working to determine the cause and time of Kelsey's death.
Dozens of family members and friends took a walk Saturday from Kelsey's home to the memorial set up near where her body was found. Teenagers hugged giant stuffed bears as they walked; men and women wearing dark glasses held each other on the bridge.
Some of the crowd leaned over the bridge and held their heads in their hands, weeping.
One mother swayed back and forth while hugging her daughter. She kissed her on the cheek before they eventually walked back to the Shannon home.
Angela Horne, Kelsey's older sister, said Friday that Kelsey "was a child deeply loved by her parents and family, who have searched and prayed diligently since her disappearance in October."
In a posting to her MySpace page while the search was ongoing, Dottie Shannon called her daughter "a bright and beautiful girl.
"She is funny and sunny and we love her so very much," she wrote.
Jessica Sampson, 18, and Cassandra Ridder, 17, both of Broomfield, visited the memorial on Saturday. They didn't know her well, but they knew of her.
Cassandra said she never expected something like this to happen in her neighborhood.
"It's such a good community," she said. "It's weird that this happened."
'I really hope Alex didn't do this'
In a letter left at the memorial, one of Kelsey's friends wrote that the teen had left her purse at the friend's home before she disappeared.
"When I heard it was you they found ... I ran, grabbed your purse, held it as close as possible and cried," the friend wrote. "I really hope Alex didn't do this to you. I don't know why, but I would never forgive myself."
Pacheco, who turned 18 in September, had one prior arrest on his record, according to the Colorado Bureau of Investigation. Broomfield police arrested him just days after his birthday on suspicion of misdemeanor theft and possessing alcohol.
Pacheco's family members couldn't be reached for comment Saturday.
One of Pacheco's friends, who didn't want to give her name, said in an e-mail with some typos, "I know Alex is a good sweet-hearted boy he loved Kelsey there wasn't a minute he wasn't crying ova her telling me how much he missed her an wish he could understand what happened an where she went.
"My dad doesn't want me getting involved with it but i will stand up for alex," she wrote. "This boy is not like most hes the first guy i eva met who would cry out of the middle of no where jst cuz he missed her."
allegedly was killed by his four teen friends in a trailer hangout on Olive Branch Lane, rural New Hill, about 10 miles from Apex, near Raleigh, North Carolina. Silliman disappeared two days before Thanksgiving, and may have been killed a few days later, after being held as a captive. Search warrants noted that before someone used a hammer to beat Silliman, the suspects read him his fate in tarot cards. 
