An Enduring Mystery: Who Killed Maggie Long, Bailey, Colorado

Maggie Long, 17,

Bailey, Colorado. 1st December 2017. 17 year old Maggie Long is found dead in her home. A fire had been set and it was only when firefighters had dealt with the blaze that murder was identified as the cause of Ms Long’s death.

Bailey, Colorado, USA. It is an hour drive from Denver

An autopsy determined that this young woman had been subject of violence and other crime scene investigations confirmed the flames were the result of a deliberate act. The only mention of a cause of death talks of there being signs of an altercation.

At 7 pm deputies were called via 911. They were told there was a fire and people were causing damage. I am not sure who made this call. The fire department attended. It was from there that this became a homicide investigation.

( In the report I read, which is linked below, it said at least one man was on the property. I take it this was a witness who made the 911 call.  It also says people were inside damaging property. I don’t know where the witness was in relation to the house. I assume the details are being held back.)

The current view is that this was a home invasion style burglary. Three suspects have had their images created in the hope they are identified. A large amount of property was stolen. The items included a safe, jade figures, a Beretta pistol, and AK47 and 2000 rounds of ammunition.

In a Jan 2022 an NBC article said two possible vehicles are mentioned as being of interest. A light coloured Chevy Astro van and a Ford pick up.

I was wondering about the timing of the incident. The evening is not the best time to try and do this sort of thing. People are normally home and that makes the target harder for scurrying little rats like these offenders. I then looked on Google Maps.

This is a relatively isolated property off a county road and it is out in the sticks. So a scenario where offenders approach and storm a place makes more sense than if it had been in a suburban street at that time of the evening.

The house is at the end of a very long driveway. 700 m, over 2000 feet

The reports began with stating that Ms Long was missing. She had been due at a concert that she had organised. It looks like she drove home and then got caught up in this murderous burglary. The damage must have been substantial because despite her car being outside, initially, the law were looking for her. A gagging order was issued by a judge three days later and at that point friends and the local community were still under the impression she was unaccounted for.

I have not come across another case like this and arson following a murder is not unheard of. We have covered cases like April Sorensen and Mary Budworth. Both those ladies suffered violence followed by a fire designed to destroy evidence. However there was no delay in proclaiming them dead after firefighters got in.

Never have I heard of a victim laying undiscovered for days following. I am guessing that the law had leads that they felt they were better chasing under the guise of a missing person enquiry. If you know different please tell me. My logic is that you have missing woman, yet her car is outside of her burnt out home. You would rip the place apart as soon as it was safe to do so.

It was not until 7th December that authorities stated this poor young woman had been found in the house.  A reward was offered and the police did what they do. In May 2018 they announced they believed the house had been targeted. I doubt by that point that was a shocker. The Long family had a big home and two businesses in the area. As we discussed in the Abernathy double homicide low life will see any family that looks financially comfortable as having treasure worth going after. If only they had the intelligence and background to realise that many who are self employed are balancing disaster against success constantly. Of course they don’t see it, if hard work and general effort had been their experience they would not become callous low life in the first place.

In May 2021 the FBI announced their interest in the case based on the possibility that this may have been a hate crime. I read the article that stated this and could not find any mention as to why. What it did do was release more resources in the hunt for the killer (s) which can only be good.

Maggie Long, 17,

It appears:

A family has the outward appearance of success.

The house is isolated, yet there was a witness close enough to give descriptions of three possible offenders.

Isolated houses are vulnerable to violent burglaries, yet they are also places that need local knowledge to targeted because of that same isolation.

So are the cops looking for local people? If so then what about the fact the sketches have been circulated without anyone stepping forward?

This is an ordinary, though rare, violent home invasion with arson that followed, but the gagging order and delay in finding Ms Long say it is unusual for all that. I just read a NBC article that seemed to indicate there was not much delay in finding Ms Long, but it was held back from public knowledge for some reason. Still unusual.

Bless the family and all those at Platte Canyon High School who were close to this young lady. I did try and contact the family but for their own reasons no-one got back to me. Absolutely no complaint here, but if you know any more details then please let me know.

A less than cheery parting point. If you have a few quid or dollars, a nice big place and you are all peacefully rural…upgrade your security please. The cops used to have crime prevention officers in the UK. Maybe other countries have them now. It was a free service. Get them to call around and discuss some options.  If you are stuck for who to talk to I’ll find out for you. I used to be one.

Cheers

Tim

tim@reasonedcrimechronicle.com

https://www.fbi.gov/wanted/seeking-info/maggie-long/@@download.pdf

https://kdvr.com/news/body-of-missing-17-year-old-maggie-long-found-in-burned-park-county-home/

https://www.nbcnews.com/dateline/cold-case-spotlight/family-hopes-fbi-s-investigation-2017-death-maggie-long-hate-n1286778