The Greeley Tribune declined to ever publish the crime scene photos out of respect for the family and the deceased, but they did describe them: a skull found in the ground with its teeth intact, still wearing braces, and alongside red and blue scraps of fabric. This matched up with Jonelle Matthews’ clothing in photos of her concert that night: she had braces, and she was wearing red and blue. The construction crew was reportedly digging dirt about 8 to 10 inches at a time when they discovered the remains, although police didn’t reveal how deeply the bones had been buried.

CBS News reports that Jonelle’s father, Jim, was originally considered a suspect, but he was cleared after taking a lie detector test. Steve Pankey, who became the main suspect in 2020, lived about 2 miles away from the Matthews’ residence. The day after Matthews went missing in 1984, Pankey and his wife and 5-year-old son left town for five days, reportedly to spend Christmas with family. But afterward, Pankey became increasingly involved with the case. His wife, Angela Hicks, testified that Pankey immediately became obsessed with the Matthews case in 1984. She said he followed it closely on the radio, television, and newspapers and even asked her to read some articles about Matthews aloud to him.