Jessica Ridgeway Case: Suspect Arrested - East Idaho News
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Jessica Ridgeway Case: Suspect Arrested

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102412 AustinReedSigg?  SQUARESPACE CACHEVERSION=1351101606852Westminster Police Dept(DENVER) — A community college student has been arrested for the abduction, murder and dismemberment of 10-year-old Jessica Ridgeway, Colorado police said Wednesday.

Austin Reed Sigg, 17, was arrested and charged with two counts of first degree murder and kidnapping. Sigg is a student at Arapahoe Community College, according to his arrest report.

“Law enforcement received the major break in the Jessica Ridgeway investigation they have been hoping for,” the Westminster Police said Wednesday. “Late Tuesday evening police received a call that led them to a home near the Ketner Lake Open Space.”

After Sigg was contacted in relation to Ridgeway’s case, he was handcuffed and taken to the Westminster Police Department for interviewing and booking. He was “cooperative,” according to the police report.

The teenager later taken to Mountain View Detention Facility.

The charges against Sigg are for Ridgeway’s death and for the attempted abduction of a jogger in May 2012.

Authorities are expected to release more details about the arrest at a news conference Wednesday afternoon.

Jessica Ridgeway vanished on Oct. 5 when she left for school. The fifth-grader never showed up at a nearby park where she was supposed to meet friends for the one-mile walk to her elementary school.

After an extensive search of the area, including knocking on doors and FBI road blocks, Jessica’s dismembered body was found on Oct. 10 in an Arvada, Colo., park, miles from where she was abducted.

On Tuesday, authorities said there was a “definitive link” between Ridgeway’s case and the attempted abduction of a jogger.

On May 28, at around 1:15 p.m., a 22-year-old woman was running on a trail around Ketner Lake when she said a man tried to grab her from behind, police said. The woman said he tried to put a rag over her mouth that had a chemical smell. She was able to get away and call 911.

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