Colorado police revisit cold case of teenager Beth Miller 42 years after disappearance
A Colorado mountain missing persons case for a teenage girl has been cold for 42 years, but there is renewed effort to learn what happened since her disappearance happened decades ago.
Beth Miller was 14 years old when she went missing from Idaho Springs. Investigators believe she went for a jog and never returned home to her family in the small mountain town. Now, Idaho Spring Police Department is revisiting one of the cases that's haunted its community for decades.
Sgt. Ryan Frost took the case after the chief of police said it was going to be a priority for them to get some answers. The issue is there's still not a lot to go on without help from the community on a case that hasn't been touched for a long time.
"All I need is for someone to reach out and tell me that one thing I don't know," Frost explained. "If we can use it and we can help this family have closure, that is all I want. It is not about the conviction; it is about, 'Let me know where Beth is. Let me bring her home. That is all we want.'"
It's partially why, in connection with Colorado Bureau of Investigations, ISPD put up a billboard near town asking for people to call in with tips about Beth's disappearance. The best window on the crime is starting to close, police say.
"Coming up on 42 years, a lot of those people are either not here anymore or getting older," Frost said. "I mean, trying to remember something from 40 years ago is tough, so we look at it as, 'Let's get as much as we can right now. Let's relook at this case. Let's look at it with a fresh perspective."
The renewed focus on the case means a lot to Lynn Mclaughlin, one of Beth Miller's seven siblings, who has dedicated a good portion of her life to trying to find her little sister.
"I wonder sometimes what Beth would be like, what she'd have turned out as," Mclaughlin said. "She was pretty when she disappeared, and I think she'd be beautiful now."
Mclaughlin was gracious to grant an interview to CBS Colorado to talk about her sister. She recounted how her sister's disappearance rocked her family, and remains emotional to this day about Beth's unsolved disappearance.
"She was smart; she was funny; and she was beautiful," Mclaughlin said. "I wonder if she'd have kids, what she'd be doing?"
Mclaughlin pursued a career in law enforcement, hellbent on finding her sister. But the person she wants to find Beth for is their mother, who she fears may never learn where her baby girl is.
"You gave birth to that person, and they're gone. Whether they're seven of them or one of them, it doesn't matter," Mclaughlin said. "To not know what happened to her has got to be killing mom. It's hard. It's hard on all of us, but it's got to be hardest on Mom."
As for the ISPD and Sgt. Frost, she said she couldn't be more thankful for the attention to her sisters case, and for anyone who takes an interest and helps ask the question, "Where is she?"
"They're giving me hope," Mclaughlin said.
If you believe you might have information that will help find Beth Miller, reach out to Idaho Springs Police Department at 303-567-4291, and ask for Sgt. Ryan Frost.
