Family: Body of disabled man found near trail

The body of a disabled man missing since January who may have been killed for his Xbox gaming console was found Friday in a ravine in Cheyenne Canyon west of Colorado Springs, the victim's family said police told them.

According to a former FBI agent assisting the family, Colorado Springs police told the mother of 22-year-old Jason Holley her son's body has been found.

Two men are in custody for the killing, one of whom led police to Holley's body, said Dale Kelley, now a California-based private investigator who has worked with local investigators on the case.

Police said Friday that a body was found near Mt. Cutler Trail off North Cheyenne Canyon Road, but would not confirm it was Holley.

Holley had been missing since Jan. 5. His family said he suffered from a rare disorder called Klinefelter syndrome and had the mental capacity of someone between the ages of 12 and 14 years old. Around the time of his disappearance, family members described him as shy, mild mannered and somewhat immature man with a slight hand tremor.

Kelley's theory on the killing is that the two men had befriended Holley through acquaintances at Pikes Peak Community College, where Holley was studying to be a car mechanic. They picked up Holley the morning of Jan. 5, telling him to bring his Xbox, Kelley said.

One of the suspect's mother later told investigators she saw the Xbox that night, Kelley said.

The newest Xbox model, the Xbox 360, sells for about $400.

After Holley's disappearance, investigators said he was likely frightened and avoiding searchers because he feared several people who tricked him into selling his car and were taking his belongings. There were unconfirmed sightings of Holley reported in the area near Garden of the Gods Road and Centennial Boulevard in northwest Colorado Springs.

The Mt. Cutler Trail was closed off Friday by Colorado Springs major crimes investigators since Friday morning, said Sgt. Steve Noblitt, police spokesman.

Noblitt would not say if investigators think the body is a homicide victim. If the death is determined to be a homicide, it would be the 11th in the city this year.

Three hikers, including a hospital nurse, were on the trail Friday morning. The nurse thought she recognized the odor of a decomposing body when they met a police detective on the trail who told them that they were going to have to shut the trail down. The nurse asked if it was because they had found a body and the detective reluctantly answered, "Yeah," the hikers said.

The detective said a body had been found in a ravine and that a suspect had turned himself in and confessed.

Kelley said Jan Holley, the victim's mother, at least knows now what happened to her son.

"She's actually doing pretty well. She didn't want to believe it. She knew her son, he did not run away, he did not just disappear. She knew that something happened to him, and she had been telling the police department this since day one," Kelley said.

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