The Buckingham

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The body of missing 10-year-old Jessica Ridgeway has been found.

The Colorado girl had been missing for over a week, and a human body had been found on Wednesday.  However, police did not confirm until Friday that the remains were of Ridgeway.

“It is with a great deal of sorrow in my heart that I inform you that the body that was found in Arvada has been positively identified as Jessica Ridgeway.  The mission has changed from a search for Jessica to a mission of justice for Jessica,” said Lee Birk, police chief of Westminster, Colo.

Authorities have said that this case will be difficult to investigate, as it involved a young girl who was snatched, murdered, and then dismembered so badly, that it took a couple of days to positively identify her remains through DNA.

On Oct. 5, the 4-foot-10-inch-tall, 80 lb. girl had disappeared at about 8:30 a.m.  She was walking the few blocks from her home to the park, where she meets friends for the 1.5-mile walk to Witt Elementary.  Earlier in the search, Ridgeway’s backpack was found six miles away in a residential area.  Her body was discovered in a different area, in a park seven miles from her home in Arvada, Colo.

So far, Ridgeway’s family has been cleared of any suspicion.