2020/03/17

Pueblo County Sheriff's Office March 9, 2020: Sheriff’s Detectives Solve 23-year-old “Baby Hope” Cold Case

Pueblo, CO: Dedicated and persistent work by Pueblo County Sheriff’s detectives with assistance from the Colorado Bureau of Investigations has led to solving and closing the cold case homicide involving an infant girl whose body was found in the Arkansas River, west of the Nature Center in 1996. The case of “Baby Hope”, which had been under investigation for more than two decades, recently resurfaced as Pueblo County Sheriff’s Detective David Butterfield, who took over the case in 2017, continued pursuing leads into the identification of the infant’s parents and any other involved individuals in her death. Based on leads developed with assistance from CBI, detectives contacted and attempted to question all persons of interest in the case. One of the individuals contacted by detectives in early October 2019, was LeeAnne Hed, 52, of Pueblo West. Hed refused to speak to detectives. Days later, Pueblo Police investigated a burned car with a body inside found in the lot of the Southern Colorado Gaming & Events Center, 3215 Lake Ave. Pueblo County Coroner Brian Cotter recently identified the body in the vehicle as LeeAnne Hed. Pueblo Police concluded their investigation and in conjunction with the coroner’s office ruled her death a suicide. Detective Butterfield continued to gather biological evidence from the victim in the burned car. The evidence collected was compared to DNA from “Baby Hope” to positively identify Hed as the mother of the infant. more