Teen found placed in suitcase died of drug overdose


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GRAND JUNCTION, Colorado — A Colorado teenager believed to have died in a Utah hotel room, whose body was later found stuffed in a suitcase 300 miles away, died of "mixed drug intoxication," according to a coroner's report.

However, in a statement released by the Mesa County Coroner's Office Tuesday, Chief Deputy Coroner Victor Yahn said the manner of death — meaning whether the death of 18-year-old Kelly Myers was a homicide, suicide or accidental — is "undetermined."

Myers' body was discovered Feb. 28 at the Cactus Park hiking area in western Colorado, about 22 miles from Myers' hometown of Grand Junction.

She was last seen in Grand Junction on Dec. 18, 2014, when she was reportedly leaving with friends to go to Salt Lake City to celebrate a birthday, according to police. She last logged into Facebook on Dec. 19, 2014, according to a search warrant affidavit filed by West Valley police. The IP address she used was at the Country Inn and Suites, 3422 S. Decker Lake Drive.

Investigators believe Myers died sometime on Dec. 19 and her "body was loaded into a black suitcase" that had a "hard shell," according to an informant. The suitcase "was then loaded into the back of a small passenger car," the affidavit states.

With the autopsy report, the Mesa County Coroner’s Office announced Tuesday that it had "completed its examination" of Myers. The coroner's office did not say what drugs were found in Myers' system. The West Valley Police Department is the agency in charge of investigating Myers' death.

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Two men with criminal histories in Utah and Colorado were considered persons of interest in the case: Eduardo De La Cruz, 30, and an associate of De La Cruz, Raymond Cordova. Both were in jail in Colorado Tuesday for investigation of drug trafficking-related charges.

On Feb. 23, detectives met with the head housekeeper of the Country Inn & Suites. She described "smelling a very strong and pungent smell" coming from the room De La Cruz had rented in December. It was described as "the smell as if someone did not wash their feet or socks for several months," the affidavit states.

The vehicle that was allegedly used to transport Myers' body was recovered in Kearns. On Feb. 24, police used two cadaver dogs at separate times to sniff the vehicle. Both dogs "intensely searched the back portion of the vehicle and then indicated positive by final result of sitting," the search warrant says.

De La Cruz is also a suspect in a drive-by shooting in Kearns in February. His name came up because of a wiretap investigation being conducted by authorities in Grand Junction looking into Myers' disappearance.

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Pat Reavy

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