Lochbuie Police Department via Facebook
Terri Ackerman
The Weld County coroner could not determine how a woman who disappeared from her Lochbuie home died after her body was discovered seven years later in a detached garage steps from her home, according to an autopsy report released Thursday.
Terri Ackerman, 56, disappeared from her Lochbuie home at 130 Poplar St. in August 2018. Her body was discovered seven years later, in September, inside a detached garage just feet from her house.
Ackerman’s remains were significantly decomposed and partially mummified, according to the autopsy report. The remains showed no obvious signs of trauma or injury; X-rays revealed no objects or projectiles.
Toxicology found evidence only of medications used to treat bipolar disorder, which Ackerman had been diagnosed with. She wore fleece pants with a snowflake pattern, a dark-colored T-shirt and a slipper on her left foot.
Her cause and manner of death were undetermined, the autopsy found.
It was not immediately clear how the coroner’s finding might impact the Lochbuie Police Department’s investigation into Ackerman’s death. Lt. Stephanie Southard did not return a request for more information on the investigation Thursday.
The police department’s early searches for Ackerman after she disappeared in 2018 turned up nothing, even though officers searched with dogs and drones. Over the years, her family has criticized the police department and at times suggested that Ackerman’s husband, Delbert “Dale” Ackerman, may have played some part in her death.
Dale Ackerman, who died in February, was never arrested or charged in connection with her disappearance.
His wife’s body was discovered by a man who was working on the property to clear out junk ahead of the property’s sale. The building was packed from floor to ceiling with boxes and junk, and smelled strongly of cat urine. The doors were sunk into the ground and had to be dug out and scraped away before they would open.
Terri Ackerman’s remains were found just a couple of feet inside the detached garage, her stepson Sean Ackerman previously told JS.
Sign up to get crime news sent straight to your inbox each day.
