The Greeley Police Department has solved a child kidnapping and sex assault that happened the morning of Sept. 18, 2001 near 5th Avenue on 9th Street in northeast Greeley. The then 7-year-old victim and her 8-year-old brother were walking to school when a male who was waiting near an alley got out and forced the victim into his car. The suspect drove the victim to a secluded area south of the Greeley airport east of Highway 85 where he sexually assaulted her.
The victim managed to get away and make her way to the Air National Guard gate near the airport where police were called. Physical evidence was collected; however, the suspect was never identified and the case went cold. At the time, the reporting victim described the suspect as being light skinned and spoke a little Spanish. She believed he might have been around 25 years old with a bad complexion and possibly the tattoo of a snake on a forearm.
In August 2019, Greeley Police requested the services of Parabon NanoLabs. Using DNA evidence from the investigation, Snapshot produced trait predictions for the associated person of interest (POI). Individual predictions were made for the subject’s ancestry, eye color, hair color, skin color, freckling, and face shape. By combining these attributes of appearance, a Snapshot composite was produced depicting what the POI may have looked like at 25 years old (left image) and with an average body-mass index (BMI) of 22. These default values were used because age and BMI cannot be determined from DNA. An age progression to 45 is also included (right image).
Together with the Snapshot DNA phenotyping predictions Parabon performed genetic genealogical research and developed information leading to Jaime “James” Zamora, who lived in Greeley and was 26 years old in 2001. Following up on this lead, GPD detectives determined Zamora could not be excluded from consideration.
It was discovered Zamora died in 2014 while living in Wellington, Colo. Evidence from Zamora’s autopsy was collected and sent to the Northern Colorado Regional Forensic Laboratory and traditional DNA analysis was performed to see if it would match the evidence collected in 2001. Zamora’s DNA was a match to the suspect DNA collected in 2001. The victim and her family have been notified of the discovery.
The subsequent investigation into Zamora revealed he was estranged from his family and a loner. In 2001, Zamora worked for a local sandwich shop that no longer operates in Greeley. More information is being sought on Zamora. Anyone who knew Jaime “James” Zamora or had any interactions with him is encouraged to contact Greeley Police detective Robert Cash at (970) 350-9601.