Colorado investigators seek information in 1988 cold case of teen found fatally strangled in ditch

EL PASO COUNTY, Colo. (TCN) — Local investigators are seeking information in the cold case death of a teen found strangled in a ditch nearly 37 years ago.

According to the El Paso County Sheriff’s Office, on Sept. 11, 1988, the body of 17-year-old Towana Lewis was located in an agricultural irrigation ditch, and an autopsy revealed she died of strangulation. She was last seen alive around Sept. 9 or 10.

Authorities said Lewis spent time at Prospect Lake Park and was allegedly there in the days before her death.

On July 31, the sheriff’s office announced that they want to speak with anyone who knew Sgt. Darwyn Jones, who is now deceased but was a soldier stationed at Fort Carson. He reportedly knew Lewis and “may have had information about her activities prior to her death.”

From February 1986 through July 1989, Jones reportedly worked as a tank turret mechanic assigned to Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 1st Battalion, 8th Infantry Regiment.

The sheriff’s office asked anyone with information about the case, Lewis, or Jones to contact them and said, “Even seemingly minor details could help bring closure to this decades-old case.”

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