Man pleads guilty to tampering charges after attempting to throw away body of Colorado woman

On Wednesday, Daniel Ryan Clark was sentenced to ten years in the Colorado Department of Corrections for attempting to dispose of a woman's body in the garbage.

Arvada Police officers were called to The Perch on 52nd apartment complex on Sep. 15, 2025, after a maintenance worker found the body of 29-year-old Chelsea Beadles inside a plastic tote covered with bedding that had been placed near a dumpster. Officers say she was partially unclothed and had suffered numerous injuries. Despite that, charges were never filed in her death.

Dr. Dawn Holmes, a forensic pathologist with the Jefferson County Coroner's Office, said the cause of Beadles' death was "undetermined" because there was no evidence of significant anatomic trauma, adding "in consideration of the unclear circumstances surrounding the decedent's death, a traumatic death cannot be definitively excluded."

Cell phone and Facebook records led investigators to determine she was with Clark in the hours before her death. They also tied the plastic tote and bedding to Clark.

Clark pleaded guilty to charges of tampering with a deceased human body, which carries a sentence of four to twelve years in prison. He admitted to disposing of Beadles' body, but maintained that he didn't kill her. Clark's attorney claimed he was using drugs at the time of her death and doesn't remember the timeframe around it.

Investigators said no additional charges were supported by the evidence. A count of tampering with physical evidence was dismissed as part of his plea agreement.

The judge sentenced him to the stipulated 10-year prison term, followed by a mandatory three-year parole.

Chief Deputy District Attorney Brenna Zortman said that, if Beadles' body had not been found by the maintenance worker, she might never have been found. Zortman said her loved ones will live forever with unanswered questions, stating, "I'm so sorry we can't provide the family with more information about what happened. It's not fair."

Beadles' mother spoke at the sentencing on Wednesday, telling the court that not knowing what happened in her daughter's final hours had been agony for the family, and "No parent should have to collect their child's body from the trash."