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Still No Sign Of Missing Student's Body

Police Believe Clausen May Have Posed As Police Officer

POSTED: 5:22 am MST January 23, 2003
UPDATED: 7:05 pm MST January 23, 2003

Police looking for the body of college student Lacy Miller staked off a section of a Larimer County landfill on Thursday as questions arise about the man who allegedly abducted and killed her.

Video

Miller, 20, was reported missing last weekend but is now believed to be dead.

Police have not found her body but they say they found her personal belongings, including her identification, in the possession of 22-year-old Jason Clausen.

Clausen was arrested on suspicion of first-degree murder and first-degree kidnapping after detectives received a tip that led them to him.

Clausen, who had volunteered with the Fort Collins Police Explorer Scout program four years ago, had a bail bondsman's badge, handcuffs, mace and a set of red and blue flashing emergency lights in his car when he was stopped by sheriff's deputies earlier this month.

Deputies found Clausen wearing a ski mask and sitting in his white Ford Expedition on Jan. 5 near the Mulberry Inn, which had been robbed three days before. Clausen did not match the description of the robbery suspect but evaded deputies' questions, prompting them to revoke his concealed weapons permit for the handgun and rifle he had in the SUV, sheriff's spokeswoman Eloise Campanella said.

Clausen's truck view from front without flatbed trucker

Fort Collins police told 7NEWS Thursday that they believe Clausen may have impersonated a police officer in order to abduct Miller.

Miller's mother, Wendy Cohen, does not think her daughter knew Clausen but believes Miller may have been baited by a person posing as law enforcement. Cohen said her daughter was taught to respect people of authority.

"She didn't know him," Cohen said. "He was a complete stranger. He was probably posing as someone. ... There is no way she would have gotten out of the car."

Police believe Clausen may have transported her body in his white 1998 Ford Expedition, with Colorado license plate 313DLL, somewhere in Larimer or Weld counties sometime between Saturday and Monday morning.

He may have had a homemade flatbed trailer with Colorado license plate L105591 attached to the car, police said. If you have seen this vehicle (pictured, left), or something similar to it parked anywhere in Weld or Larimer County on Saturday, Jan. 18, or Monday, Jan. 20, you are asked to contact Fort Collins police at (970) 224-6090.

Police believe that Clausen -- described as 6 feet 2 inches tall, 175 pounds, with brown hair and hazel eyes -- may have also stopped or attempted to stop other women. If you have been stopped by a man with a similar description, driving a similar car, you are asked to contact police.

Clausen's mug shot has not been released pending a photo lineup.

Clausen's History

Clausen, who worked at Circuit City until a few weeks ago, was supposed to ship out for Army basic training on Monday.

He had been on the honor roll at the former Choice City Christian School but he has had brushes with the law.

According to records from the Colorado Bureau of Investigation, Clausen was arrested Jan. 13 for allegedly stealing clothes and a car battery from his former roommate. In 2000, he was charged for drag racing.

Judge C. Edward Stirman sealed the arrest affidavit for the case, and approved a gag order to limit pre-trial publicity.

Jason Clausen's home

On Wednesday night, Fort Collins police spent hours searching through Clausen's home for more evidence.

Miller's friends and family, who spent days asking for help to locate the missing University of Northern Colorado student are now dealing with their loss.

"I don't know how you do a life without Lacy. She was a bright light and the world is a dimmer place," her mother said.

Miller was last seen around 1:30 a.m. Saturday, when she dropped off a girlfriend in Fort Collins and said that she was tired and heading directly home.

Her parents reported her missing after finding her black Mitsubishi Mirage locked and parked on the street two doors away from their home. Family members said that this was odd because she only parked on the driveway or in the garage.

Police had said earlier in the week that there were no signs of foul play, and that they were treating her disappearance as a missing person's case. A bloodhound failed to find any trail from the car, which could indicate that she got into another car after stepping out of hers, 7NEWS reported.

Police officers, Miller's family and friends, and community members had been actively looking for clues about her whereabouts. They searched the hillside near her home and posted thousands of fliers about her around the school in Greeley and in Fort Collins.

A $10,000 reward is still available for more information about her whereabouts.

Miller was studying to be an elementary school teacher.


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