A family's pain

Wednesday, November 1, 2006

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Karlee Althaus's body was found in a wooded area of Moon Lake Road.

The family of a woman found dead in Pasco County last Friday is breaking their silence.

Karlee Althaus's family wants to remember the 23-year-old as a caring and hilarious young woman.

Her grandmother, Margaret Althaus, said her granddaughter called her "raddamudder" as a kid because she couldn't say grandmother.

"Karlee was a great girl," Margaret Althaus said. "We all loved her. She will be missed very much."

Althaus disappeared in late September. Her body was discovered Friday buried five feet below ground in a wooded area of Moon Lake Road.

Althaus's mother, Kimberley Crower, has strong words for those who were involved in leaving her daughter in a shallow grave.

"Whoever is responsible for the cruel and inhumane way they discarded my child, I want them to sit in a cold, dark prison cell so they too will never forget Karlee," Crower said.

The Althaus family credits private investigator Mike Holden with finding significant clues that helped speed up the investigation into Karlee's

Karlee's grandmother and mother want her to be remembered as a caring and hilarious young woman.

disappearance. He has this to say to those who were with her during her last moments.

"I want to make something very clear, whoever was responsible for putting Karlee in that hole where she was, I will work on it very hard, we will find out who did this to Karlee and they will be accountable in some fashion for what they did," Holden said.

While the Pasco County Sheriff's Office has been investigating, it was Holden's office that found Althaus's cell phone, leading them on the path toward those who knew what happened to Althaus and where she was buried.

The sheriff's office isn't disclosing the cause of death yet, but Pasco Sheriff's Office spokesperson Kevin Doll said no injuries were found on Althaus' body and there were no signs of foul play.

Information from Bay News 9's partner, the St. Petersburg Times, was used in this report.