A Morning Like Any Other

It was a Friday morning in October 2012, and the first snow of the season was falling softly on Westminster, Colorado. Inside a home on Moore Street, 10-year-old Jessica Ridgeway was getting ready for school. She was a vibrant girl with an old soul, known for her empathy, her love of the color purple, and her distinctive gap-toothed smile. She wore purple glasses, loved Nickelodeon shows, and dreamed of being a cheerleader who was “kind to everyone.”

That morning, Jessica bundled up in her black puffy jacket with pink lining, pulled on her boots with pompoms, and grabbed her backpack—the one with her name on the keychain. She said goodbye to her mother, Sarah, who watched from the window as her daughter walked down the snowy sidewalk. It was a routine they had practiced many times. Sarah, tired from her overnight shift, went to bed, believing her daughter was safe on her short walk to Witt Elementary.

She never imagined that as she closed her eyes, a predator was already watching.

The Disappearance

Jessica never arrived at her friend’s house, and she never made it to school. For hours, no one knew she was missing. A call from the school went to voicemail while Sarah slept. It wasn’t until Sarah woke up that afternoon and realized Jessica hadn’t come home that the panic set in. By 4:23 PM, Jessica was officially reported missing.

The community’s response was immediate and overwhelming. Hundreds of volunteers, dubbed “Jessica’s People,” scoured the neighborhoods. Purple ribbons—Jessica’s favorite color—appeared on trees, mailboxes, and lapels across the city, a symbol of hope and solidarity. But as the days passed, hope began to fade.

A backpack found on a sidewalk in Superior, Colorado, miles from Jessica’s home, confirmed the worst. Inside were Jessica’s glasses—items she needed to see and would never discard willingly. It was a clear sign that she had been taken.

The Discovery and the Hunt

Five days after she vanished, the tragic truth was revealed. Human remains found in an open space in Arvada were identified as Jessica. The case shifted from a rescue mission to a hunt for a killer. The details were gruesome; the body had been dismembered, a sign of a perpetrator with a disturbing psychological profile.

Investigators caught a break when DNA found on Jessica’s belongings matched evidence from an attempted abduction of a jogger at Ketner Lake months earlier. The link suggested a local predator, escalating in violence. The FBI released a profile, urging the public to look for behavioral changes in people they knew. They also released a photo of a small wooden cross found at the crime scene.

The Call That Changed Everything

On October 19, a woman watching the news recognized the wooden cross. She knew exactly who it belonged to: 17-year-old Austin Sigg. Sigg was a high school dropout fascinated by mortuary science and death.

When police interviewed Sigg, he was calm. He denied involvement but voluntarily gave a DNA sample. In a catastrophic error, the lab misplaced his sample, and he was initially cleared. But the pressure was mounting. On October 23, Sigg confessed to his mother, Mindy.

“I murdered Jessica Ridgeway,” he told her. “I have proof that I did it.”

Mindy Sigg faced the nightmare every parent dreads. She picked up the phone and called 911, turning in her own son. “He said he did it,” she told the dispatcher, struggling to breathe. “He murdered her.”

The Mind of a Monster

Sigg’s confession was chilling in its detachment. He described “hunting” for a victim, spotting Jessica by chance as she played in the snow. He detailed how he abducted her, took her to his home, and ultimately ended her life because he “knew she was dead” the moment he took her. He spoke of his obsession with violent child abuse material and his lack of empathy. “I don’t really feel anything,” he told detectives. “I know that’s probably what makes me a monster.”

Evidence found in his home corroborated his story, including remains hidden in a crawl space and a journal detailing his dark thoughts.

Justice and Legacy

Austin Sigg pleaded guilty to all charges to avoid a trial. In November 2013, he was sentenced to life in prison plus 86 years. Because he was a minor at the time of the crime, he will be eligible for parole after 40 years, but the consecutive sentences ensure he will likely never walk free.

Jessica’s legacy, however, is not defined by her killer. It lives on in the Jessica Ridgeway Memorial Park, filled with purple playground equipment and her favorite knock-knock jokes etched into the concrete. It lives on in the Lassie Project, an app designed to help find missing children quickly. And it lives on in her younger sister, Anna, who grows up knowing she has a guardian angel watching over her.

Jessica Ridgeway was a girl who wanted to bring kindness to the world. In the face of unimaginable evil, her community responded with exactly that—love, unity, and an enduring memory of a life that, though short, shone incredibly bright.