Thornton woman prays that bodies of son, granddaughter are found Two disappeared 2 years ago this week, along with one of man's employees
By Sarah Huntley, News Staff Writer
THORNTON -- Sharon Skiba used to pray nightly that God would help police bring her son and
granddaughter's killers to justice.
But after two years and no arrests, she's learned to expect less.
"Now I just pray that we find the bodies," Skiba said. "I plead that someone will come forward and tell
us where they are."
The Thornton grandmother's eldest son, Paul Skiba, would have turned 41 this month. His little girl,
Sarah, was 9 when she disappeared.
Now Sharon Skiba yearns for a chance to say goodbye. As Skiba braces for another painful
anniversary Wednesday, she hopes this year will be different.
The case has consumed investigators' energies since Feb. 8, 1999, when Sarah Skiba's mother,
Michelle Russell, called police to say that her ex-husband hadn't returned Sarah after his weekend
visitation.
At first, authorities thought they were dealing with a custody feud. Although relations had been
cordial, Russell had recently told Paul Skiba she was considering moving to Eugene, Ore.
But several discoveries gave them pause. Skiba, the owner of Tuff Movers, and his daughter weren't
the only ones who had vanished. One of Skiba's employees, 36-year-old Lorenzo Chivers, was
missing, too.
A few weeks later, Chivers' gray Chevy Chevelle was found in a parking lot at the Lakeview
Apartments in Westminster. Skiba's light-blue, four-door Kia turned up later at a Denver apartment
complex.
"It just struck fear in my heart immediately," Sharon Skiba said. "I knew right away there was
something wrong."
She and two of her son's friends went to the Westminster moving company. The chain had been cut
and replaced with a new lock, and Paul's truck was parked at an unusual angle.
One of the friends climbed the fence and began to look around. The truck Skiba had used for a job on
Feb. 7 was spotless.
"I kept telling them it was strange that the whole inside was cleaned out," Skiba said. "Where was
the blanket Paul usually kept? And where was all his work?"
Then Skiba's friend began examining the outside of a second truck. His heart ran cold as he noticed
what appeared to be bullet holes and several spots of blood.
Detectives sprayed both trucks with a substance that makes areas from which blood has been
cleaned glow in the dark. The cab of the seemingly spotless truck was covered with blood, Sharon
Skiba said. A large amount had also pooled on the ground nearby.
Subsequent DNA testing confirmed that the blood belonged to Paul and Sarah Skiba.
Sharon Skiba says she thinks her son was ambushed as he drove the truck into the lot after 8:30
p.m. Feb. 7. She said she thinks that after being wounded, Paul Skiba climbed out of the truck and
was shot again.
The evidence suggests that Sarah was shot outside the second truck.
"When I think of that night, it tears me apart," Sharon Skiba said, her eyes filling with tears.
None of the blood matched Chivers', Skiba said, but authorities are certain he was also a victim of
foul play. Detectives say Chivers may have been forced to help dispose of the bodies only to be killed
elsewhere. It's also possible he was killed in a way that may not have left the same evidence, Skiba
said.
Either way, Skiba reached a wrenching conclusion: The loving son, who brought her from Minnesota
to live with him and the granddaughter, who clamored to lick the frosting off the beaters whenever
she baked, couldn't have survived.
The scene told her something else, too. Although Skiba has no names to go with her suspicions, she
says she thinks the killers knew her son well.
"If this was just a robbery, they wouldn't have gone to all the trouble to hide the bodies or cover up
what was going on that night," she said.
Thornton police acknowledged last week that they've reached an impasse.
"I'd say we're pretty much stalled on the case," said Sgt. Dante Carbone. "I really wish that we did
have some new information."
When she thinks of the lack of progress on the case, Sarah's mother's grief turns to anger.
"I'm losing faith in the system," Russell said. "I guess this sort of thing happens a lot ... but when it's
three people and one of them is your daughter, it's inconceivable that police haven't figured it out."
She racks her brain trying to understand a motive.
"It makes no sense to me. If it's money, if it's revenge, if it's any of those things, my child was
innocent," Russell said.
Family members and friends have searched for the bodies themselves, walking along creekbeds and
under bridges looking for makeshift graves.
All it would take is one phone call to Detective Pat Long at (303) 538-7461 or the Vanished Children's
Alliance at (800) VANISHED. A $35,000 reward has been offered.
"They could call in the middle of the night and just leave a message," Skiba said. "Until they do, this
is still very much alive for the whole family. There's been no closure."
In the meantime, the victims' families trudge through their daily routines, trying to focus on happier
times. A playhouse that Paul Skiba built for his daughter's fifth birthday sits empty in his back yard,
as do the 72 photographs the proud father had displayed around the house.
Sharon Skiba plans to meet privately with relatives Wednesday. That same evening, Sarah's mother
will hold a public vigil from 7 to 8 p.m. at Snow Scoots, 77720 Highway 40, between Winter Park and
Fraser. Each visitor is asked to bring a candle.
Skiba finds comfort in the high-quality time she spent with her son and granddaughter. "That's
something no one can take away from me," she said.
But she can't help but wonder what the future might have been.
"I got to see Sarah grow, but whoever did this took away my chance to see her as a teen-ager, as a
graduate from school or getting married and having children," she said. "It won't ever be the same."
February
ANYONE HAVING INFORMATION SHOULD CONTACT : Thornton Police Department (Colorado) -
1-303-538-7461
SARAH A. SKIBA
Case Type :Endangered Missing
DOB :jul-27-1989 Age :11 years
Height : 4' 5" - 135 cm
Weight : 80 lbs - 36 kg
Eyes :Hazel Hair : Blonde
Circumstances : Sarah may be in the company of her father, Paul C. Skiba and Lorenzo Chivers.
Sarah has a red mark on the bridge of her nose. Lorenzo has a tattoo of a scorpion on his left
forearm and a scar on his abdomen. Foul play is suspected.
Date Missing :feb-05-1999
City of Report :THORNTON
State of Report :CO
Country of Report :USA
Case Number :860296
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