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El Paso County Sheriff’s Office seeks help solving decades-old murder case

By Nick Smith July 31, 2025 | updated 2 days ago

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Towana Lewis

Towana Lewis, 17, was found dead in a ditch in 1988. Investigators from the El Paso County Sheriff's Office are seeking additional information to help solve her murder.

Courtesy of EPCSO

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Towana Lewis was found dead at 17, floating in a ditch near Security-Widefield over 30 years ago. Detectives are still working to solve her murder and are asking the public for help.

The cold case of Angie Sicola: 10 years later

Lewis died by strangulation, the coroner ruled. She was three months pregnant at the time of her death and had a young daughter at home, authorities said.

Found dead on Sept. 11, 1988, near Goldfield Drive and the Big Johnson Reservoir, Lewis was last seen alive a day or two prior, according to a Thursday news release from the El Paso County Sheriff’s Office. She was known to spend time at Prospect Lake and was reportedly seen there in the days leading up to her death. 

Investigators from the Sheriff’s Office’s Cold Case Unit are interested in speaking with anyone who knew Sgt. Darwyn H. Jones, a deceased tank turret mechanic assigned to the 1st Battalion, 8th Infantry Regiment at Fort Carson. Jones served at the Army base from February 1986 to July 1989. 

Kurt Smith, a Sheriff’s Office spokesperson, said Lewis and Jones were in a relationship, and that investigators believe that Jones may have had information about her activities.

“Getting information from this individual would be helpful even if it is second hand. Obviously, we cannot interview (Jones), so we are hoping someone can provide information (to us),” Smith told The Gazette.

Smith said asking the public to help crack the case was an avenue investigators wanted to explore. 

“Cold cases are very difficult to determine if they are ‘close’ (to being solved),” Smith said. “These cases take a lot of work, and every piece of information helps.”

If you have information related to the case or know someone who does, call the El Paso County Sheriff’s Office tip line at 719-520-777.

The El Paso County Sheriff’s Office is investigating 19 cold homicide cases and seven missing person cases with suspicious circumstances, according to its website.

Man accused in 1988 Old Colorado City rape, murder to be prosecuted as adult

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