14 DAY TRIAL // Police in Westminster, Colorado have a 17-year-old suspect in custody for the death of Jessica Ridgway. Austin Reed Sigg lives 1½ miles from Jessica.
Austin's mother, Mindy Sigg, was the one that called the police about her son. According to Fox4KC, he had confessed his crime to her. The suspect then proceeded to turn himself in and is now being charged with first-degree murder and kidnapping.
Jessica Ridgeway disappeared on her way to school, on October 5. Five days later, her small body was found dismembered in Arvada, Colorado.
The Westminster police believe this news will bring peace to Jessica's family.
"Today, I believe we have taken a significant step toward justice for Jessica. [...] We hope and pray that this arrest gives (the family) some measure of closure," Chief of police Lee Birk said.
The little girl's great grandmother is asking for justice. She feels angry and demands retribution, the Denver Post reports.
"I think it's all I've got within me not to just want to just burn him. [...] I meant literally light him on fire. Send him to hell in a blaze of glory," Donna Moss stated yesterday, during a press conference.
Austin Sigg is a student at Arapahoe County Community College, where he prepared himself to become a mortician.
Police in Westminster believe there is a link between 10-year-old Jessica's case and another attack that happened in May near Ketner Lake, in Denver. On May 28, a 22-year-old woman fought off a man that was trying to kidnap her. If the connection pans out, the teenager will be charged with attempted kidnapping, as well.
Sigg may be tried as an adult, being 17 years of age. Former U.S. Supreme Court rulings have established a pattern in which young men at his age are not sentenced to death or life in prison.