Colorado killer said he dumped girl in Grant County

No trace found to corroborate claim

GRANT COUNTY (AP) — A Colorado prisoner who claims he has killed nearly 50 people since 1970 told investigators that he thought he dumped the body of a 13-year-old girl at a scenic overlook where Interstate 90 crosses the Columbia River, but a search by Grant County deputies two years ago did not find any evidence of the teen.

Acting on a request from the El Paso County sheriff's office in Colorado, Grant County deputies in November 2004 searched the rugged basalt cliffs and ravines below westbound I-90, east of the Vantage bridge. Convicted killer Robert Charles Browne, 53, told investigators that he might have dumped the body of the girl there in 1986, leading to a search of the terrain, Grant County Chief Criminal Deputy John Turley said.

"They had been talking with this yahoo in prison over there … and he made mention that he possibly might have dumped a petite, 13-year-old female," Turley told the Associated Press. "We found all kinds of stuff, but none of it appeared to match."

Several bone fragments were sent to a lab for analysis, but were determined to be deer bones. Clothing was also found in the area, but did not date back to 1986 and appeared unconnected to the case.

Checking with detectives, Turley said there were no unsolved murders in Grant County at that particular time.

Browne has been serving a life sentence in Colorado for murdering a teenage girl in 1991. While in prison, he told the Colorado cold-case investigators that he had killed nearly 50 people across the country and in South Korea.

Authorities so far have been able to corroborate his detailed claims in six unsolved slayings — three in Louisiana, two in Texas and one in Arkansas, El Paso County Sheriff Terry Maketa said.

Browne pleaded guilty on Thursday to killing another girl 19 years ago.

Turley said the Colorado investigators made the request on Nov. 5, 2004. They believed Browne had picked up the girl — probably a prostitute or runaway — near Spokane.

"We got back to them with what we found, and that's the last we heard of it," Turley said.

Herald staff writer Brad W. Gary contributed to this report.