Melba Jean Ginther, a 57-year-old White woman born in Minturn, was found shot in the back of the head on the evening of May 20, 2002. Her body was discovered lying behind a green pickup truck on a dirt road off U.S. Highway 24 near Camp Hale, between Red Cliff and Leadville. An autopsy determined the fatal wound was from a rifle.

Melba lived alone in Dillon and worked as a pastry chef at the Keystone ski resort. Family described her as sweet and grandmotherly but private; relatives had not seen her in about three years before the death. The Eagle County Sheriff’s Office and the Colorado Bureau of Investigation set up roadblocks and distributed flyers but the case went cold. Investigators sought two men seen in a white pickup in the Pando Junction area around the time of the killing, described as men in their 20s or 30s with average builds, dark hair and possibly dark complexions, but they were never identified.

The motive remains unknown and no arrests have been announced. Does anyone who knew Melba or was in the Camp Hale or Pando Junction area on May 20, 2002, have information that could help?