IDAHO SPRINGS, Colo. (KDVR) — Decades after 14-year-old Beth Miller vanished while jogging, Idaho Springs police are revisiting every lead, hoping modern technology and public tips can finally uncover what happened.
“Beth was a 14-year-old girl on Aug. 16, 1983. She asked her younger sister if she wanted to go jogging with her at about 10 a.m. Her younger sister declined and Beth said, ‘OK,'” said Sgt. Ryan Frost, lead detective on Beth’s case.
“Beth was on the basketball team and was trying to stay in shape for school,” Frost continued. “So she left her home. She ran a few blocks and headed east on Colorado Boulevard from her house. A couple of her friends saw her at the old 7-Eleven. And that’s the last time someone saw Beth Miller.”
Now Frost is combing through every report, every rumor, trying to find out what was missed from 42 years ago.
“Every day in my office, I have Beth’s picture and she’s happy and she’s smiling,” he said. “I look at it and I know that she’s out here somewhere and her story needs to be told. I wanted to look at the case not from what the work that everybody’s done. It’s what do we know about this case and what techniques can I use that we have now to help tell a bigger story and then maybe possibly get that one thing that we missed for 42 years.”
When investigators first looked into Beth’s disappearance in 1983, they were working with limited resources: None of the technology relied on today.
“1983, we don’t have cell phones,” Frost said. “We don’t have Ring door cameras. We don’t have traffic cameras. The hard thing with this case is there’s actually no physical evidence of what happened to Beth.”
Frost says he has been working with the Colorado Bureau of Investigation and the Federal Bureau of Investigation to see what officers can do that wasn’t done before.
“Through all my research, I could not find them running canine dogs behind the house. When I talked to Beth’s mother, she couldn’t remember them actually searching her house. Not that she doesn’t know if they did or not, it’s just she couldn’t remember. So like I said, I wanted to go back to the beginning,” said Frost.
“By going back to the beginning, it’s we’re gonna check things off the box. I’m gonna bring cadaver dogs to her house. I want them to run through it to see if they hit on anything. I also got someone who told me the other place we searched was called Harvest Moon Trail. Someone said it looked like there was a mound and it could possibly be a grave,” Frost added.
Police recently revisited the case with K-9 units, conducting a search on Oct. 21.
“I’ve ran the dogs in this whole neighborhood, and they did not pick up any scent of you know, human remains or anything. So if I can start checking things off a box, hopefully I can start narrowing it down,” said Frost.
Hundreds of hours have been spent digitizing old reports and re-examining evidence, trying to find the smallest clue that could finally bring answers.
“It’s been 42 years. You’ve lived your life. You’ve lived your life, Beth hasn’t,” said Frost. “There’s nothing too small. I want to know.”
Decades later, Frost’s mission remains clear: To find Beth and bring her home.
“It keeps me going because of the family and the family deserves the answers,” he said.
Any information, even the smallest tip, can help solve this case. Any tips can be sent to [email protected] or by calling 303567-4291.
Anthony Sutton is a business strategist and writer with a passion for management, leadership, and entrepreneurship. With years of experience in the corporate world, he shares insights on business growth, strategy, and innovation through management-opleiding.org.
