WHEAT RIDGE COLD CASE SOLVED AS REMAINS IDENTIFIED

The Jefferson County Coroner's Office said human remains discovered by a person panning for gold almost two years ago have been identified as those of Robbie Swor, 57.

The remains were located along the Arapahoe Bar Gold Panning Park in Wheat Ridge on Dec. 27, 2024. A forensic anthropologist determined that Swor had been dead for as long as 2 1/2 years. Using the results of DNA testing, coroner's investigator Chandler Ellis traced Swor's descendants to Syria in the late 19th Century - and mapped out a comprehensive lineage leading back to Colorado. Family members had not spoken with Swor for almost a decade but told Ellis he was believed to have been residing in the Denver area. [Photo: Jefferson County Coroner]