Missing
Aletha Capps
Capps, approximately 1955
Date and time person was reported missing : 12/17/1955
Missing location (approx) :
Douglas County, Colorado
Missing classification : Endangered Missing
Gender : Female
Ethnicity :
White
Age at the time of disappearance: 33 years old
Height / Weight : 5'0, 180 pounds
Medical conditions : Capps suffers from a heart condition requiring medication several times a day. Due to her condition, she could walk only a short distance without collapsing.
Distinguishing characteristics, birthmarks, tattoos
: Caucasian female. Brown hair, brown eyes. Capps's maiden name is Snodgrass.
Information on the case from local sources, may or may not be correct : Capps was last seen in Douglas County, Colorado on December 17, 1955. She was seen with Alva C. Quillin Jr. at the Gold Coin Cafe in Victor, Colorado, where they were refused service because they were under the influence of alcohol, and at the Home Cafe at Crippe Creek, where Capps had a glass of milk and Quillin had three glasses of beer. This is the last time anyone besides Quillin saw her.
According to Quillin, he and Capps went for a drive and their car skidded off the road and got stuck in a snowbank on the Rampart Range Road near Castle Rock. The pair stayed in the car overnight, and the next day Quillin hiked over a mountain to Palmer Lake to get help. When he returned to the vehicle, he said, Capps was gone. She has never been heard from again and an extensive search turned up no indication of her whereabouts.
Quillin failed a polygraph about Capps's disappearance and authorities stated they believed he knew where she was. Quillin subsequently changed his story slightly, saying Capps had had a heart attack after their car got stuck, and she disappeared when he went to get help.
Capps was divorced at the time of her disappearance, but kept in occasional touch with her ex-husband. He hasn't heard from her since her disappearance. She would not have survived for long without her heart medication. Her body has never been found and no one was ever charged in her disappearance. Quillin died in 1992.
Other information and links : ncy
Douglas County Sheriff's Office
303-660-7500
September 2021 updates and sources
A missing person is a person who has disappeared and whose status as alive or dead cannot be confirmed as their location and condition are not known. A person may go missing through a voluntary disappearance, or else due to an accident, crime, death in a location where they cannot be found (such as at sea), or many other reasons. In most parts of the world, a missing person will usually be found quickly. While criminal abductions are some of the most widely reported missing person cases, these account for only 2�5% of missing children in Europe.
By contrast, some missing person cases remain unresolved for many years. Laws related to these cases are often complex since, in many jurisdictions, relatives and third parties may not deal with a person's assets until their death is considered proven by law and a formal death certificate issued. The situation, uncertainties, and lack of closure or a funeral resulting when a person goes missing may be extremely painful with long-lasting effects on family and friends.
Several organizations seek to connect, share best practices, and disseminate information and imAge at the time of disappearance: s of missing children to improve the effectiveness of missing children investigations, including the International Commission on Missing Persons, the International Centre for Missing & Exploited Children (ICMEC), as well as national organizations, including the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children in the US, Missing People in the UK, Child Focus in Belgium, and The Smile of the Child in Greece.
The Fort Collins Coloradoan
The Grand Junction Daily Sentinel
The Fort Worth Star-Telegram
Websleuths
October 12, 2004. April 19, 2021; .
Interactive Missing Person Search Map
