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Holly Marie Andrews
Holly Marie Andrews disappeared on Dec. 26, 1976.

Man Who Raped, Killed Girl In '76 Sentenced

Harnish Admits To Killing Holly Marie Andrews

POSTED: 6:18 pm MST November 30, 2009
UPDATED: 2:02 pm MST December 1, 2009

A man who raped and killed a 16-year-old Colorado girl in 1976 has been sentenced to 24 years in prison, the most he faced under a plea agreement in which he promised information about her death.

During a sentencing hearing Monday, 54-year-old Ricky Lee Harnish admitted killing Holly Marie Andrews and apologized to her family. He pleaded guilty in October to second-degree murder.

Andrews left her mother's home in Littleton on Dec. 26, 1976, to walk to a friend's house. Her partially nude and mutilated body was found on Dec. 27 by hikers in Clear Creek County, west of Georgetown.

Her killer had raped her, stabbed her in the back six times, slashed her chest and left her naked except for pair of blue knee-high socks.

The Rocky Mountain News had reported Andrews was a Columbine High School majorette who had spent weeks at the Fort Logan Mental Health Center just before she died.

DNA evidence led police to Harnish in 2008.

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