YUMA, Colo. — In a city with a population of about 3,500, there is almost always a sense of safety.
But in October 2023, the community in Yuma, Colorado, had its sense of safety rattled after a young woman seemingly vanished.
"Everybody was pretty upset and scared because I think ... there was a lot of different speculations as to what happened," said Jacqie Monk, who was born and raised in Yuma.
Britani Meek, 25 years old at the time, was the woman reported missing in October 2023.
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"I cried every day, all the time, constantly," said Mary Partch, the fiancée to Meek's cousin, reflecting on the days after her disappearance.
Nearly one month after she disappeared, law enforcement found Meek's body but did not immediately reveal where or how.
"It was kind of hard to go into Yuma because you hear all these rumors," said Brent White, Meek's cousin.
Aside from those rumors swirling in town, little information about what happened to Meek was revealed.
However, calls continued coming into Denver7 Investigates from sources in Yuma, relaying allegations about who neighbors were speculating might have been behind her death.
Eight months after Meek's body was found, law enforcement made the shocking announcement of an arrest.
Clifton Clayton Boggess, 62, was taken into custody by U.S. Marshals in Lake Placid, Florida, on July 29, 2024.
He is facing multiple charges, including first-degree murder.
The arrest report reveals Meek's body was found on a private property where investigators believe Boggess worked.
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According to the document, multiple people who knew Meek repeatedly mentioned Boggess's name to investigators.
The report also details surveillance video investigators obtained from the last night Meek was seen alive. The footage reportedly shows the outside of a loft, where she frequently stayed, claiming it was the last place Meek's car was seen, or detectives believe her phone pinged.
The arrest report describes several hours of footage during which three people enter the loft, but only two come out.
The report also claims the video shows what "appears to be a body" thrown over a ledge.
Meek's car was eventually found on the same property as her body.
The documents reveal Meek's family told investigators she was "probably" using drugs and potentially trading drugs for sex.
"I knew that she had to have got mixed up some way with the wrong person," said Joshua Thinnes, Meek's boyfriend of several years.
Boggess's preliminary hearing is being rescheduled after his public defender requested a continuance.
Who is Clifton Clayton Boggess?
This is not the first time Boggess has been behind bars.
Denver7 Investigates obtained court documents revealing Boggess has a violent past.
He was convicted of multiple felonies in Florida after he was accused of sexually assaulting a woman in a car and shooting her in the head twice when she tried running from him in 1997. The woman survived.
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Records show Boggess served just over one year in the Florida Department of Corrections.
About six years after his release, another girl would vanish.
What happened to Heather Riggio?
It was 2007 in North Miami Beach, Florida, when anyone last saw Heather Riggio. She was 20 years old at the time.
Her cousin said Riggio was "always the life of the party."
"You wanted to be around her. She was very energetic, you know. She was beautiful — blonde hair, blue eyes," remembers Kurtis Michael.
Michael explained that Riggio was raised by her mother, and her father was not in the picture.
After Riggio's mother died unexpectedly, Michael says his cousin turned to drugs.
"I think with most kids, when they lose a parental figure at that age, especially the sole parental figure, it kind of leaves a void. And they go searching to fill that void," said Michael.
Riggio's body has never been found, but law enforcement and her family believe she is no longer alive.
"Within a couple of years, we started to realize that it probably wasn't going to have a happy ending," said Michael.
A cold case detective confirmed to Denver7 Investigates that Boggess is a person of interest in Riggio's disappearance.
"I just wish that there was more of an effort put into the case. At the time, I don't think anybody realized the gravity or just how big and widespread this was," said Michael.
Now, a bench sits in a park in the heart of Yuma with Meek's name, birthday, photo-etched in stone, and a picture of a guitar.
"In the deepest, darkest cave, she was a sun lily that was shining so bright. I don't see how anybody could have stepped on her," said Thinnes.
- Denver7 Investigates will follow each step of the case. You can watch Natalie Chuck's in-depth piece in the video player below.
