A woman was tied to a vehicle with a rope and dragged through suburban streets in a gruesome crime that left a trail of blood more than 1.6km-long, police said.
Neighbors discovered the woman's body before dawn on Monday, 32km south of Denver.
On Tuesday, the sheriff and his deputies were still trying to determine the identity of the victim.
The victim's face was unrecognizable and an orange tow rope was found around her neck, said Nancy Foley, who lives next door to the house where the body was found.
"I was trying to sleep last night, thinking about how this poor lady was dragged, treated worse than an animal," Foley said. "She was really mangled."
It was not yet clear whether the woman had died from injuries sustined while she was dragged or from something else. The results of the autopsy were expected yesterday.
Sheriff's spokeswoman Kim Castellano said investigators on Tuesday detained several witnesses for questioning.
No one had been arrested or identified as a possible suspect, she said.
A photograph of an unidentified couple was found near the scene of the crime, but investigators had yet to determine if there was any connection to the case, Castellano said.
Investigators around town were checking missing-person reports for clues.
Authorities stepped up patrols in the once-quiet neighborhood, and residents were locking their doors at night, something they had rarely done before, Foley said.
"It's a very safe neighborhood, or it has been, anyway," a shaken Foley said.
The blood trail was cleaned off the paved road, but some traces remained, a reminder that didn't fail to upset the residents.
"We don't want to attract any more attention than what we're already getting. This is our little piece of heaven," Foley said.
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