Aurora Police
AURORA, Colo. (TCN) — A 41-year-old man from Wyoming will spend the rest of his life behind bars for kidnapping and killing a 29-year-old woman whose remains were found in a remote area in Colorado on New Year’s Eve in 2021.
The Colorado 18th Judicial District Attorney’s Office announced that a jury convicted Casey Childers on July 25 of first-degree murder, second-degree kidnapping, and conspiracy to commit second-degree kidnapping in connection with the death of Rachel Holeman. A judge subsequently sentenced Childers to life in prison without the possibility for parole for the murder charge, as well as 32 years for second-degree kidnapping, and 16 years for conspiracy to commit second-degree kidnapping.
Prosecutors said Holeman was reported missing to Fort Collins police in 2021. Fort Collins police determined Holeman’s last known location was in Aurora, so they turned over the investigation to the Aurora Police Department. Further investigation revealed Childers, Shantel Edlund, and Leo VanBuskirk allegedly kidnapped Holeman around Nov. 6, 2021, in a Chevrolet Malibu. The following day, deputies with the Douglas County Sheriff’s Office reportedly drove past the Chevrolet Malibu while responding to a separate burglary report. They captured the plates via dashcam and connected it to Holeman’s kidnapping.
According to the district attorney’s office, local police in Wyoming performed a traffic stop on the Chevrolet Malibu on Dec. 29, 2021, and arrested Edlund, Childers, and VanBuskirk on unrelated drug charges. Detectives from the Aurora Police Major Crimes Unit reportedly traveled to Wyoming to interview the defendants, and on Dec. 30, 2021, they obtained warrants for their arrests on charges of first-degree kidnapping.
The next day, Aurora Police said investigators responded to the area of Highway 83 and Russellville Road in Colorado, where they found the victim’s remains. An autopsy revealed Holeman died of a gunshot wound to the head, and authorities identified Childers as the shooter.
According to prosecutors, Edlund pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit second-degree murder and was sentenced to 18 years in prison. Co-conspirator VanBuskirk pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit second-degree murder and second-degree kidnapping but has not yet been sentenced.
Senior Deputy Distrist Attorney Corrie Caler said, “The evidence shows this defendant senselessly murdered and left her body in a remote part of the county where he thought no one would find her.”