WESTMINSTER, Colo. — Friday marks 26 years since a triple homicide rocked Westminster.
Paul Skiba, his 9-year-old daughter, Sarah, and his employee, Lorenzo Chivers, disappeared on February 7, 1999, after signs of a struggle at Skiba’s moving company, Tuff Movers. Their bodies have not been found, and neither has a suspect.
“Officers were down there and discovered what looked to be a crime scene,” said Detective Troy Gordonier with the Westminster Police Department.
According to investigators, Skiba and Chivers had worked a couple of moving jobs in Thornton and Morrison throughout the day. Sarah, who had tagged along with her dad, made one final call at 6:22 p.m. shortly before the trio returned to the truck yard, located in the 7100 block of North Raleigh Street, around 7 p.m.
Investigators believe the three were murdered either in the yard or at a secondary location.
“It appeared as though there had been some sort of confrontation and that people had been shot,” said Gordonier.
The truck was found back in the lot on North Raleigh Street the next day.
“We have a witness who actually heard that truck return and hit the fence as it was being pulled back into the moving yard,” Gordonier told Denver7.
Twenty-six years later, the case remains unsolved. However, Gordonier said new evidence has emerged, which could change that.
“What we've discovered, as well, is there's parts of the moving truck that we are missing. So the big moving ramp that would have been with this truck actually splits into two, and that ramp is missing, as well as moving blankets and moving straps,” said Gordonier.
Westminster detectives reanalyzed the original evidence and discovered new DNA, which they are working to test with today's technology.
“We've talked to many people that were involved in the investigation back then. Most of those people are still alive and still here in the Denver area. We still have more that we want to speak with,” said Gordonier.
The trio's loved ones are hoping this break will finally help solve the case.
“Her loss has not gotten any easier, and reliving the events every year is a heartbreaking way to remember her," said Sarah's mother, Michelle Russell, in a statement. "Some people say she was at the wrong place at the wrong time. She is completely innocent since she was only 9 ½ years old at the time. Why would anyone want to kill her in cold blood?”
“The families definitely would really appreciate to have some closure, and they deserve that closure,” said Gordonier.
Authorities are offering a $10,000 reward for information that helps solve the case. Anyone with information is asked to call Westminster PD at 303-658-4360.
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