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Cold Case

Colorado man arrested in 1982 cold-case murders of 2 women last seen hitchhiking near Rocky Mountains

Investigators have worked the case for nearly 40 years

By Stephen Sorace Fox News
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Authorities in Colorado have arrested a 70-year-old man in connection to the 1982 murders of two women who were last seen hitchhiking from a small town near the Rocky Mountains, according to reports.

Alan Lee Phillips was taken into custody for the deaths of 22-year-old Annette Schnee and 30-year-old Barbara Jo Oberholtzer, FOX31 Denver reported, citing law enforcement sources. He faces charges of first-degree murder, assault with a deadly weapon and kidnapping.

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No further details on how investigators identified Phillips as a suspect were immediately released.

Schnee and Oberholtzer were both last seen on Jan. 6, 1982, hitchhiking separately from Breckenridge, a town at the base of the Rocky Mountains’ Tenmile Range, where they both worked. Investigators do not believe the two women knew each other, according to KMGH-TV.

Schnee, pictured left, and Oberholtzer had no apparent connection to one another besides both working in Breckenridge, investigators have said.

Schnee, pictured left, and Oberholtzer had no apparent connection to one another besides both working in Breckenridge, investigators have said. (Colorado Bureau of Investigation)

Oberholtzer’s body was found a day later about 10 miles from Breckenridge on the summit of Hoosier Pass, which stands at more than 11,000 feet elevation. She died of a single gunshot wound to the chest.

Schnee’s body was found six months later on July 3, 1982, in rural Park County, Colo., about 20 miles south of Breckenridge. She was fully clothed and lying face down in a stream. She died of a single gunshot wound to the back.

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Private investigator Charlie McCormick, who began working on the case in 1989, told KMGH-TV last year that he’d work the case "to the bitter end."

"You can't walk away from it, or I can't," he told the station. "Haven't wanted to. Tomorrow's another day, and you got stuff to do, and you see what might happen."

The Colorado Bureau of Investigation said an update to the development would be given later Wednesday.