Family Holds Press Conference
This morning, Kelsie's Family held a press conference at the Westin in Downtown Denver, CO. Colby Schelling, Laura Saxton and Doug Schelling each prepared a statement. The family is offering a reward of up to $10,000 to the person or persons who provide(s) information leading to the arrest and conviction of the suspect(s) responsible for her disappearance. Please see the family's statements below.
PRESS STATEMENT // Colby Schelling, Kelsie's Brother DENVER, CO - Good Morning. I am Colby Schelling and my sister, Kelsie Jean Schelling, has been missing since Feb. 4, 2013. Our family is here to share new information about Kelsie. It is our hope that the investigation of her disappearance will yield positive results that will return her home to her family. Our parents, Doug Schelling and Laura Saxton will speak today.
Laura Saxton, our mother, will reveal why we find Kelsie to be at-risk and the nature of why we need help with the investigation. Doug Schelling, our father, will state the facts as we know them and offer details concerning a reward.
We appreciate and thank the members of the media that are in attendance. The family will not be taking questions afterward, but I will make myself available to answer individual questions about the investigation or to participate in one-on-one interviews. My private contact information is provided on the last page of the press release. We again want to thank everyone in attendance.
Family members, friends, and concerned citizens are thankful for any help that you can give us as we move closer to finding Kelsie.
PRESS STATEMENT // Laura Saxton, Kelsie's Mother
DENVER, CO - My name is Laura Saxton. I am Kelsie’s mom. Thank you all for being here today to help us get information to the public that may ultimately help us find her. Kelsie disappeared in Pueblo on Mon., Feb. 4, when she traveled there after leaving work that day to meet her boyfriend, Donthe Lucas, at his request. On the morning of Feb. 4, Kelsie had a doctor’s appointment in Denver where doctor’s records confirm that she was 8 weeks pregnant with Donthe’s child. Cell phone records show that Kelsie sent picture messages of her ultrasound picture taken that day to family members and also to Donthe and his mother. Cell phone records also show that Donthe asked Kelsie to come to Pueblo when she got off of work that night because he needed to speak with her in person.
We know that Kelsie made it to Pueblo and did meet up with Donthe. No one has seen or heard from her since. We are not satisfied with Donthe’s original account of the events leading up to Kelsie’s disappearance. We are informed that he has since refused to speak with the Pueblo Police Department. It has been nearly 3 months since Kelsie went missing. She has not had contact with any of her family or friends. She did not run off—she had nothing to run from, nor does she have any resources with which to live. She left her apartment on the morning of Feb. 4, with every intention of returning there that evening and we know that because all of her possessions were left in her apartment.
Her bank account has been accessed once since she went missing, and Law Enforcement has informed us that Donthe Lucas accessed her bank account on that occasion.
We hope and pray that Kelsie is still alive and unharmed. We all love and miss Kelsie so much and are more deeply saddened to know that whatever happened to her that night also involved her unborn child, my first grandchild, as well. We are doing everything in our power to find our missing loved one and would expect anyone involved to do the same.
Through our efforts to find Kelsie, we have met some amazing people in Pueblo. Perfect strangers who out of the goodness of their hearts, have searched for her and hung flyers and posters all over the city. We thank these kind people from the bottom of our hearts. But we do not feel that a thorough enough search has been conducted. Search efforts must continue until we find Kelsie.
We now plead with all citizens of Pueblo, please reach deep into your hearts and if you have any information at all that could lead us to Kelsie, please contact the Pueblo Police Department, Pueblo Crime Stoppers or call 1-855-4-KELSIE.
PRESS STATEMENT // Doug Schelling, Kelsie's Father
DENVER, CO - I am Doug Schelling, Kelsie’s father, and our family is offering a reward of up to $10,000 to the person or persons who provides information leading to the arrest and conviction of the suspect or suspects responsible for her disappearance. We know that on the evening of Feb. 4 something happened to Kelsie. Kelsie did not talk to anyone on her phone after that Monday night, but text messages were sent until Wednesday evening from Kelsie’s phone to pacify family and friends. We do not believe that it was Kelsie texting.
We know that a person, not Kelsie, had used her credit card on Tues., Feb. 5 and used it in Pueblo.
We have been informed and believe this person was driving Kelsie’s 2011 black Chevy Cruz on Monday night, Tuesday and Wednesday, before it was left at St. Mary Corwin Hospital employee parking lot in Pueblo on Thursday morning at around 5 a.m. However, surveillance tapes do not show Kelsie in her vehicle after Monday night. We have set up a toll free number for anyone to call that has information on her disappearance. The number is 1-855-4-KELSIE. Or to submit a tip online, you can go to HelpFindKelsie.com. Thank you for both your time and concern. It’s clear that many people care about Kelsie.
The family will not be taking questions at this time. We hope that this information provided today will help return Kelsie home to her family. Thank you.
