Found Deceased CO - Eric Pracht, 25, Lakewood, 22 July 2016

[kelsie]

@JSolt1210 I completely agree with your comment and I really appreciate you taking the time to type that out. She sounds... absolutely awful IMO. Not giving a grieving, lost, frustrated family their son's BELONGINGS back... are you kidding me.
I spoke to Eric's mom recently regarding the remains found in Colorado Springs last week or so and she said the remains are being sent to Texas for testing. She was entirely kind and encouraging to me and told me she appreciated the writing I have done regarding her son. Nearly brought me to tears. I think of Eric and his family so often. I want justice for them. I strongly suspect foul play.

Human bones found near elementary school in Lakewood; police investigating

 

[lucidtx]

This is directly across the street from the condo complex, less than 1/4 of a mile.


Hiker finds human remains near Green Mountain in Lakewood

 

[kelsie]

This is directly across the street from the condo complex, less than 1/4 of a mile.


Hiker finds human remains near Green Mountain in Lakewood

Was just coming here to post this, thanks lucidtx.
His family hasn't posted anything about it yet.

 

[bombardier]

This is directly across the street from the condo complex, less than 1/4 of a mile.


Hiker finds human remains near Green Mountain in Lakewood

oh jeez...bad feeling about this.

 

[bombardier]

This is directly across the street from the condo complex, less than 1/4 of a mile.


Hiker finds human remains near Green Mountain in Lakewood

just looked back and remembered that EP's phone last pinged near base of Green Mountain

 

[lucidtx]

oh jeez...bad feeling about this.

If it is indeed him, I'm surprised he was so close, really just a stone's throw away. I know they searched the heck out of that open space, and it's such a heavily-trafficked area. Frankly I'm surprised any human remains could've been left undiscovered "for some time" right there by the parking lot.

This isn't good news but I do strongly suspect this will be Eric and I hope his family finally gets some answers.

 

[inmyhumbleopinion]

If it is indeed him, I'm surprised he was so close, really just a stone's throw away. I know they searched the heck out of that open space, and it's such a heavily-trafficked area. Frankly I'm surprised any human remains could've been left undiscovered "for some time" right there by the parking lot.

This isn't good news but I do strongly suspect this will be Eric and I hope his family finally gets some answers.

Agreed on all points.

From the 9NEWS article (thank you for posting):
“The remains were found near William F. Hayden Park on Green Mountain, near the intersection of West Utah Avenue and West Alameda Parkway, according to Lakewood Police Department spokesperson John Romero.

This is near two of the parking lots that access the trails at Green Mountain.”
I dropped a pin at the approximate midpoint between the small lot located at the T of West Utah Avenue and West Alameda Parkway and the large lot at the Green Mountain Hayden Park Entrance, and according to Google Maps, it’s a 20-minute walk from the Lakewood Vista condos :

خرائط ‪Google‬‏‏

Street View image of the small lot located at the T of W Utah AV and W Alameda PKWY:


S.V. image of the large lot:

(In fact, an article from three days after Eric disappeared has a picture of the same sign you see in the above picture:
Search Intensifies In Lakewood For Missing Paramedic

General area:

 

[lucidtx]

Agreed on all points.

From the 9NEWS article (thank you for posting):
“The remains were found near William F. Hayden Park on Green Mountain, near the intersection of West Utah Avenue and West Alameda Parkway, according to Lakewood Police Department spokesperson John Romero.

This is near two of the parking lots that access the trails at Green Mountain.”
I dropped a pin at the approximate midpoint between the small lot located at the T of West Utah Avenue and West Alameda Parkway and the large lot at the Green Mountain Hayden Park Entrance, and according to Google Maps, it’s a 20-minute walk from the Lakewood Vista condos :
View attachment 244201
خرائط ‪Google‬‏‏

Street View image of the small lot located at the T of W Utah AV and W Alameda PKWY:
View attachment 244202

S.V. image of the large lot:
View attachment 244203
(In fact, an article from three days after Eric disappeared has a picture of the same sign you see in the above picture:
Search Intensifies In Lakewood For Missing Paramedic

General area:
View attachment 244205

Thank you for the helpful visuals! His address was in the 1600 block of S Cole St, which is in the NE corner of the condo complex - one of the units closest to the parking lot these remains were found near. It wouldn't even be a 20 min walk, taking the most direct route, more like 5.

 

[inmyhumbleopinion]

“Police found a handgun at the scene but said it was too early to determine the cause of death.”
Human remains found near Green Mountain trail in Lakewood

Didn’t a neighbor hear a gunshot?

 

[inmyhumbleopinion]

Thank you for the helpful visuals! His address was in the 1600 block of S Cole St, which is in the NE corner of the condo complex - one of the units closest to the parking lot these remains were found near. It wouldn't even be a 20 min walk, taking the most direct route, more like 5.

You are absolutely right. Looks to be just steps away ... (S Cole ST in the lower left hand corner, and the large parking lot at located the Green Mountain Hayden Park Entrance in the upper right hand corner):

 

[lucidtx]

“Police found a handgun at the scene but said it was too early to determine the cause of death.”
Human remains found near Green Mountain trail in Lakewood

Didn’t a neighbor hear a gunshot?

I've seen mentions about that in discussions, and also that one of his handguns was missing, but I don't think I've seen any confirmation of either of those things from MSM or LE.

 

[inmyhumbleopinion]

I've seen mentions about that in discussions, and also that one of his handguns was missing, but I don't think I've seen any confirmation of either of those things from MSM or LE.

Thank you. I just found a transcript of an interview Eric’s parents did with John Lordan (I’m fairly certain that his videos are allowed under TOS). It’s very difficult to read due to the lack of punctuation, and I am going to watch it as soon as I can to make sure it’s accurate, but it does appear that Eric’s dad mentions a “40 caliber Glock” that’s missing.

He also says:
“I just wanted to make sure the gunshot at 1:30 yeah that was actually told to us by the detective he said when he was questioning people around the condos one man told him I think I heard a gunshot at 1:30 and I said well you know can you do something about that he said it wasn't even called in so there's really it could have been a car backfiring so there's just not much we can do beyond that okay the night that this happened in the area there was a sold-out concert at Red Rocks which is just minutes away and even closer than that there was the mile high Nationals at vandemere Speedway which you can look out their front door and see and so there were had to be it was a rain delay at vandemere so we're thinking there had to be tons of people around ....”

I’m sorry it’s so difficult to read!

Here is the actual video:

To view this content we will need your consent to set third party cookies.
For more detailed information, see our cookies page.

Accept third party cookies

Transcript can be found here:
Eric Pracht Parents Interview on Brainscratch Searchlight - YouTube Transcript Download

 

[kelsie]

I believe The Vanished Pod mentions the gunshot

 

[bombardier]

if eric truly walked 10 minutes away from his house and shot himself (or harmed himself some other way..all speculation at the moment of course) and his body wasn't found for 4 years...where the heck was he?? did he crawl behind some rocks or roll under a bush or something? i think its important to know these details to emphasize that future MP searches really need to look /everywhere/ and, literally, leave no stone unturned

 

[mrfrinkles]

I believe The Vanished Pod mentions the gunshot

Such a great podcast.

 

[lucidtx]

if eric truly walked 10 minutes away from his house and shot himself (or harmed himself some other way..all speculation at the moment of course) and his body wasn't found for 4 years...where the heck was he?? did he crawl behind some rocks or roll under a bush or something? i think its important to know these details to emphasize that future MP searches really need to look /everywhere/ and, literally, leave no stone unturned

Even the most intensive searches can miss people. It absolutely happens, especially when there's any sort of terrain involved. This area isn't remote or rugged by Colorado standards but it does it have areas of thicker vegetation and rocky drop-offs.

I also would be surprised if a body remained in this area undetected for that long, but I definitely wouldn't rule the possibility out. Sometimes a body is buried or tucked away in something like a crevasse until forces of nature like erosion eventually wash it out years later.

 

[lucidtx]

Thank you. I just found a transcript of an interview Eric’s parents did with John Lordan (I’m fairly certain that his videos are allowed under TOS). It’s very difficult to read due to the lack of punctuation, and I am going to watch it as soon as I can to make sure it’s accurate, but it does appear that Eric’s dad mentions a “40 caliber Glock” that’s missing.

He also says:
“I just wanted to make sure the gunshot at 1:30 yeah that was actually told to us by the detective he said when he was questioning people around the condos one man told him I think I heard a gunshot at 1:30 and I said well you know can you do something about that he said it wasn't even called in so there's really it could have been a car backfiring so there's just not much we can do beyond that okay the night that this happened in the area there was a sold-out concert at Red Rocks which is just minutes away and even closer than that there was the mile high Nationals at vandemere Speedway which you can look out their front door and see and so there were had to be it was a rain delay at vandemere so we're thinking there had to be tons of people around ....”

I’m sorry it’s so difficult to read!

Here is the actual video:

To view this content we will need your consent to set third party cookies.
For more detailed information, see our cookies page.

Accept third party cookies

Transcript can be found here:
Eric Pracht Parents Interview on Brainscratch Searchlight - YouTube Transcript Download

So in summary from that transcript, Eric owned several guns and visited the range occasionally, sometimes with Preety, but she wasn't as experienced with firearms. Eric kept all of his guns in a safe except for his Glock .40, which they kept in the bedroom so it was accessible to both of them for self defense, especially because Eric worked long 48 hr shifts often leaving Preety alone at night. Eric's parents and Preety were going through the condo after he went missing, and she opened the case for the Glock .40 and noted it was gone.

I hope I got that right because it is indeed a mess of a transcript.

 

[oviedo]

“Police found a handgun at the scene but said it was too early to determine the cause of death.”
Human remains found near Green Mountain trail in Lakewood

Didn’t a neighbor hear a gunshot?

I wonder if the gun could still have dna?

 

[lucidtx]

I wonder if the gun could still have dna?

I think getting any sort of touch DNA that could be of investigative value would be a huge challenge. The remains are skeletinized so it's probably been out there for years exposed to the elements.

 

[bombardier]

i dont know if this is helpful but i believe this video shows the terrain/area where the UID was found (is it normal to use volunteers to look for potential evidence or are those plain clothes LE?)
Human remains found on Green Mountain in Lakewood