Timeline

Timeline for the disappearance and death of Kayleah Wilson:

» Sunday, March 28, 2010, 3:40 p.m.: Twelve-year-old Kayleah leaves her home to walk to meet a friend at the Greeley Mall across the U.S. 34 Bypass. She was going to a birthday party with that friend. That is the last time she is seen by her family.

» Same day, 7 p.m.: When her daughter hasn’t returned at the time she was supposed to, Kayleah’s mother, April Wilson, first calls her friends to see if they know where she is.

» About 10 p.m.: April notifies Greeley police of her missing daughter. Police begin a search of the area, and also contact Kayleah’s friends. They believe at first the girl may have been a runaway. Then they learn she never met her friend or arrived at the birthday party.

» Monday, March 29: April and Kayleah’s brother, 17-year-old Mackenzie, put out missing child posters with her photo and the words: “We love you! Come home, call us. Jesus loves you! We are going to Cowboy Church on Easter.” The family hangs the posters on fences and telephone poles in the area and pass out the posters to people living nearby or just walking in the area. There are no answers.

» March 31: Greeley police have determined it’s not a runaway case and increase the searches and investigation. Search dogs are brought in, but find no trails of the girl. Police send out the first press releases because they are no longer looking for a runaway. Twenty-five police officers are on the case, and the FBI is notified. They will bring in 50 agents to search.

» April 1: A Facebook group, “Prayers for Kayleah Wilson’s safe return” has launched a campaign; the Rocky Mountain Safe Streets Task Force steps in to help. Searches are organized for the next several days. No one finds any trace of the girl.

» April 4: On Easter Sunday, April Wilson’s family attends the Northern Colorado Cowboy Church services to receive help in praying for Kayleah. Police agencies continue to search, combing the outlying areas from her home and the Greeley Mall.

» April 5: A security camera at the Greeley Mall parking lot shows Kayleah walking through the lot, but then out of camera range. There is nothing else and no one else suspicious in the video. More searches are organized.

» Early morning, May 19: A ditch rider turns on the water to an irrigation ditch in west Greeley, about a half-mile from the Wilson home. At the base of a 10-foot waterfall, he sees a small body, turning in the rolling water. Police immediately cover the area and Kayleah’s body is found. The same day, Kayleah’s former boyfriend, Robert Montoya, 18, is arrested and bond is set at $100,000. He is not arrested for the murder, but because he admitted to having sex with the 12-year-old girl, he was arrested for sexual assault on a child.

» May 25: Hundreds attend the memorial service for Kayleah Wilson in downtown Greeley. Her body has been cremated, and some ashes are left in a memorial wall at Sunset Memorial Gardens. The rest of her ashes are in an urn that April Wilson places in her bedroom, so she can talk with her daughter.

» Ten months later, on March 22, 2011: The trial begins for Robert Montoya.

» March 25: After a three-day trial, Montoya is convicted and sentenced to eight years to life in the state penitentiary.

» December 2014: Montoya wins an a appeal of his conviction. His case is remanded back to court for the possibility of a new trial.

» April 2016: No new trial is held, charges are dropped against Montoya, and he is allowed to go free.

Source: Greeley Tribune archives, as compiled by Mike Peters