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BY MICHAEL OLOHAN
OF PASCACK PRESS
DELTA COUNTY, COLORADO—A suspect is being held on $10 million cash or surety bond in Delta County Court, in Colorado, after confessing to the murder of Madelaine “Maddie” Loh, 27, a former resident and a graduate of Westwood Regional High School.
Loh, living in Colorado, was found dead on June 27 in a remote area of Utah, after a male acquaintance had turned himself in that day and confessed to killing her.
The Delta County Sheriff’s office said that Edgar Macias-Moreno, 24, of Hotchkiss, Colorado turned himself in at approximately 5:30 a.m. on June 27 and advised investigators that he had killed Madelaine Loh and taken her body to Utah.
Delta County Sheriff Fred McKee said Loh’s mother, Helen, had reported her daughter missing the morning of June 24. She said she had not heard from Madelaine since June 19.
Loh was reportedly last seen alive at her Hotchkiss, Colorado address. Her employer thought she and her friend Macias-Moreno, had gone camping.
Loh’s dog was found wandering along U.S. Highway 50 at approximately 2 a.m. June 20, not far from the Delta-Mesa County line, officials reported.
People in the Pascack Valley who knew Loh and her family had sought help locating her on social media last week, with the Westwood Volunteer Ambulance Corps reaching out for help on behalf of Loh’s mother, Helen Loh, a former corps member.
“One of WVAC’s own, former member Helen Loh, needs the help of the community she gave to,” the corps wrote in reaching out for assistance.
McKee said when Macias-Moreno turned himself in and confessed, he told investigators he took Loh’s body to Millard County, Utah. McKee said they contacted authorities there, described the location, and officials found a female body at the location at approximately 1 p.m. on June 27.
McKee said Delta County and Colorado Bureau of Investigation detectives went to Millard County to assist at the crime scene once the body was located.
Macias-Moreno is charged with first-degree murder, domestic violence, and related charges, and is being held in Delta County Jail, in Delta, McKee said on June 28.
Delta County Undersheriff Mark Taylor did not disclose a cause of death and noted Macias-Moreno did not offer any alleged motive for the killing. He said it appeared Loh and Macias-Moreno had been in a relationship for a few months.
According to one media report, a full arrest affidavit has not been released. Colorado Bureau of Investigations records reveal Macias-Moreno is being held on suspicion of first-degree murder after deliberation, second-degree kidnapping, reckless endangerment; abuse of a corpse, aggravated motor vehicle theft, illegal use of credit cards, fraud, concealing death, and a morals decency crime.