17-year-old arrested in missing Colorado girl’s abduction, murder

Westminster, CO, United States (4E) – A 17-year-old boy has been taken in custody Tuesday in suspicion of kidnapping and killing a 10-year-old Colorado girl whose dismembered body was found a few days after she disappeared.

According to Westminster Police Chief Lee Birk, Austin Reed Sigg was arrested late Tuesday night after to a tip led them to a home near Ketner Lake Open Space.

Birk said Jessica Ridgeway’s family was notified of the arrest, adding “we hope and pray this arrest gives them some measure of closure in dealing with their horrible loss and tragedy.”

Ridgeway was reported missing on October 5. She was on her way to school when her mother last saw her, but she never showed up in class.

Her body was discovered on October 10 in Arvada, Colorado, miles from where she was taken.

Authorities announced on Tuesday that there was a connection between Ridgeway’s case and a jogger’s attempted abduction.

The kidnap try happened to a 22-year-old woman on May 28 around 1:15 p.m.

Police said the runner was on a path along Ketner Lake when a man approached from behind to grab her. The woman said he tried to cover her mouth with a rag that smells like a chemical but she was able to run away and call 911.

The jogger described her attempted kidnapper as a light-skinned man, between18 and 30 years old, about 5’8″ tall, with brown hair and a medium build.

Sigg will be charged for Ridgeway’s abduction and murder, and for the jogger’s kidnap attempt.

Police documents stated that Sigg is enrolled at Arapahoe Community College. He placed second during a competition in the Crime Scene Investigation division of the Health Occupation Students of America State Leadership Conference last March 23.

Sigg resides a block west of Ketner Lake Open Space, which is around 1½ miles south of where Ridgeway has reportedly vanished.

The teenager was brought to Mountain View Detention Facility.

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