November 6, 2023 |
Photo – 24 year old Jerry Mickkelson – Courtesy Jackson County Sheriff’s Office
New evidence in a homicide cold case from 1987 over the Carbon County line in Colorado came to light recently.
The Jackson County Sheriff’s Office, with help from the Departments of Criminal Investigation in both Colorado and Wyoming, used new technology to identify the male homicide victim as 24-year-old Jerry A. Mickkelson.
The victim’s body was discovered on a Forest Service Road located 15 miles north of Walden and 5 miles from the Wyoming border on October 18, 1987. r. Mikkelson was wearing a vest with the initials L.B.L written on a tag inside of the vest.
According to the Jackson County Sheriff’s Office, soil samples found in his hair led investigators to believe that Mikkelson was murdered in Wyoming. His body was dumped in Colorado.
Mikkelson’s remains were exhumed by the Jackson County Sheriff’s Office, CBI, and DCI earlier this year on June 28, 2023.
A new examination resulted in DNA samples and the discovery of a surgical titanium rod in the right femur. Mikkelson’s family confirmed that the victim had broken his femur 6 years prior to his death, resulting in the titanium rod.
According to the missing person’s report filed at the time of the victim’s disappearance, Mikkelson left his home in Sioux Falls, South Dakota on August 8, 1983. Mikkelson is believed to have spent time in Pittsburgh PA, Olathe KS, Wyoming, and possibly Colorado.
Mikkelson was born on August 12, 1963. He was described as 5’9” and about 160lbs at the time of his disappearance. Mikkelson had brown eyes and brown hair that had a naturally curly/wavy texture.
