Colorado Bureau of Investigation.
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Authorities have suspected that John Cizek was murdered for nearly a decade. But the cold case was finally put to rest on Friday, March 27.
The 71-year-old resident of Newark, California, was last seen entering his RV in Alamosa on June 12, 2016, according to police. Cizek was retired and had traveled to Colorado to pan for gold at 10,000 feet, he reportedly told his friends at the time.
Just minutes after Cizek stepped inside his RV, surveillance footage shows another man arriving at the scene and entering the vehicle: David Little. Little, a 40-year-old from Golden, was wanted by police for allegedly sexually assaulting a child. When police arrested Little on June 21, 2016, they found him in possession of Cizek’s RV, credit cards and identification.
Cizek’s blood was discovered inside of the RV, but his body was nowhere to be found. That is, until May 2024, when a fisherman stumbled upon human skeletal remains in a shallow grave near Deer Creek Campground in Park County.
Fingerprints and dental records weren’t options for identifying the remains in this case, explained Park County Coroner David Kintz, so investigators relied on genetic genealogy. They found that the victim was of Czech or Slovak descent and made a reconstruction of his face, sharing the images and information with the public in December 2025. That’s when they learned about Cizek’s missing persons case. DNA from Cizek’s shirt was then tested and confirmed to match the remains.
Colorado Bureau of Investigation
The Colorado Bureau of Investigation announced the identification of Cizek on Friday. He died from a gunshot wound to the head.
“While we can’t bring Mr. Cizek back, we can try to provide his family with the answers and closure that they deserve,” said CBI Special Agent Tammi Krebs.
Cizek’s family is now in the process of making final arrangements for his remains, according to Kintz.
“They’ve known the general circumstances for a decade, but not the final resting place or what actually happened,” Kintz said. “This identification, it means the world to me. But I know, I know from talking to [Cizek’s] sister just before this press conference, it means the world to their family.”
The Killer
Little died in an apparent suicide in the Jefferson County Jail in October 2016 — four months after Cizek was last seen.
When police tried to take Little into custody, he reportedly shot at the officers more than fifteen times, though he missed. He was arrested on June 21, 2016, and charged with child sexual assault, attempted murder of the police officers, and the murder of Cizek, according to CBI.
Little allegedly hung himself in his jail cell before he could be convicted, officials said Friday.
Colorado Bureau of Investigation
After Little’s arrest, investigators discovered handwritten journals detailing his plans to kill to obtain an RV, and to kidnap the child he was accused of sexually assaulting, said Stacy Galbraith of the First Judicial District Attorney’s Office.
According to reports from CBS, those journal entries included the following, written on June 8, 2016, four days before Little encountered Cizek: “I am having a really hard time hunting anyone to kidnap, kill, carjack. … I really want to get us an RV, and I’m working hard looking for a great opportunity to grab just the right one, waiting for the crime of perfect opportunity.”
“Tragically, Mr. Cizek was an innocent and random victim in this case,” Galbraith said. “He was targeted for his RV and killed for his RV.”
This is the latest in a string of cold cases that have been recently solved in the Denver metro area, many due to advancements in genealogy and DNA technology.
“It means a lot to my team of genealogists to have a day like today,” said Mitch Morrissey, chief of operations of United Data Connect. “Most of the homicide cases that we solve are cold cases. …Most of the people that would want closure are dead. Today, that’s not the case. The sister in this case got answers.”
