Police identified a body found on a Colorado dairy farm as a 19-year-old woman who went missing after she claimed a stalker had been terrorizing her.
Authorities found Natalie Bollinger’s body in a wooded area Friday nearly 24 hours after family members reported her disappearance, the Daily Mail reports.
Relatives say Bollinger left home around noon and did not return. A passerby found the teen’s body by the McIntosh Dairy Farm, a 30-minute drive from her Broomfield home.
Police did not confirm Bollinger’s identity until Tuesday and are investigating her death as a homicide. Authorities have not released the cause of her death.
Thirteen days before Bollinger went missing, a judge granted her a restraining order against Shawn Schwartz, 42, after accusing him of stalking her.
The teen said Schwartz, whom she befriended two years ago, drove across the country to Virginia where she moved and slept behind her office for several weeks.
She claimed Schwartz continued to harass her even after she asked him to stop. He allegedly sent her emails daily, parked outside her residence, and threatened to commit suicide in front of her.
Broomfield police say they have spoken with Schwartz but are not saying whether or not he is a suspect.
Since Bollinger’s disappearance, Schwartz published multiple Facebook posts claiming his innocence and asking for the public’s help in searching for the teen.
A GoFundMe page has been set up on behalf of Bollinger’s family to pay for the teen’s funeral expenses. As of Wednesday afternoon, it has raised $6,350.