A 61-year-old Adams County grandmother is a suspect in the 1983 abduction and killing of Idaho Springs teenager Beth Miller, according to a county sheriff who worked on the case.
Viola Moya has been a target of investigators since the early years of the case - one of the most nagging mysteries in Colorado for nearly a quarter-century - said Larimer County Sheriff Jim Alderden, who was an agent with the Colorado Bureau of Investigation from 1992 to 1998.
The 14-year-old Miller disappeared Aug. 16, 1983, after leaving home for a morning jog.
Although detectives have been unable to gather enough evidence to arrest Moya and FBI investigators doubt she was involved, Moya could face new questions from a grand jury called by 5th Judicial District Attorney Mark Hurlbert.
Moya said the allegations are lies propagated by dishonest investigators.
"I have never seen that girl," she said. "I know nothing about her."
It all started, Moya said, "because someone started a rumor. A nasty rumor. A lie."
At least two investigators, however, believe Moya could have participated in Miller's kidnapping, killing and the hiding of her dismembered body west of Empire. They believe Miller was assaulted in the back of a truck by Moya's friend, Edward Apodaca, while Moya drove.
"My position has always been that there are at least three viable suspects in this case that need to be looked at," Alderden said. "I don't know if the intent (of the district attorney) is to look at all three or if he just intends to focus on one.
"But I would be surprised if the Apodaca-Moya lead was not one of the primary focuses of the grand jury. And of course, my belief is that of the three, Apodaca-Moya is probably the most compelling."
The second investigator to focus on Moya is Miller's sister, Lynn Granger.
Granger, 43, a police dispatcher in Black Hawk and a former Clear Creek County sheriff's deputy, is convinced that Moya is the key to answering the question of what happened. "To my mind, Viola Moya is the subject of the grand jury investigation, absolutely," she said.
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