Candace Hiltz

Candace Hiltz was a fiercely loyal, outspoken, and intelligent young woman with ambitious dreams. Born on December 22, 1988, in Cañon City, Colorado, the 16-year-old female was the youngest of seven children and was remembered by her family as funny and unafraid to speak her mind. A single mother, Candace was devoted to her 11-month-old daughter, Paige, who had a medical condition requiring extra care. To balance her academic pursuits with motherhood, Candace was taking online classes. She had been accepted to Stanford Law School and dreamed of one day becoming a Supreme Court justice. She lived with her mother, Dolores, in a rural home in Fremont County.

The days leading up to Candace’s death were marked by unsettling events. On August 10, 2006, a Fremont County Sheriff's deputy came to the Hiltz home looking for Candace’s older brother, James. An argument ensued, during which Candace became protective of her mother and confronted the deputy, threatening to expose his alleged corruption. The deputy left, but a few days later, the family’s dog, Jackson, disappeared. The dog was later found dead, tied to a tree.

On the afternoon of Tuesday, August 15, 2006, Dolores Hiltz returned home from running errands to a horrific scene. She found the back door open and blood throughout the house. Her granddaughter, Paige, was safe but crying in her crib. After a frantic search, Dolores made a devastating discovery: Candace’s body was wrapped in a green comforter and hidden under a bed.

An autopsy later revealed the brutality of the crime. Candace had been shot seven times, six times in the head and once in the chest. The report indicated that as many as three different types of firearms were used. The paths of some bullets were steeply downward, leading her mother to believe she had been executed by potentially more than one assailant.

The initial investigation by the Fremont County Sheriff's Office was fraught with problems, and for a decade, the case went cold with no arrests made. A major break came in December 2016, but it only deepened the mystery and suspicion surrounding the handling of the case. A Cañon City resident who had purchased the contents of an abandoned storage unit discovered evidence from Candace’s murder file inside. The unit had belonged to Robert Dodd, a former detective with the Fremont County Sheriff's Office who had been an investigator on the Hiltz case. The discovered items included a bloody rope, an ax, and case documents. More evidence allegedly discarded by Dodd was later found at a local landfill.

The discovery led to an investigation by the Colorado Bureau of Investigation. Robert Dodd was eventually charged and, in 2018, convicted of abuse of public records and two counts of second-degree official misconduct. He was sentenced to 180 days in jail, with 165 days suspended, and fined. Dodd claimed he had kept the evidence because he intended to take more photos of it but never got around to it. Candace’s mother, Dolores, was disgusted by the developments, stating, "He has destroyed evidence, tampered with evidence… the whole thing is sickening."

Despite Dodd's conviction for mishandling evidence, no one has ever been charged with the murder of Candace Hiltz. Her family has voiced immense frustration with the justice system, particularly after being told they would not be considered official "victims" in the case against Dodd because he was not charged with the murder itself.

As of November 2023, the murder of Candace Hiltz remains an open and unsolved case. Her family continues to seek answers and justice for the bright young woman whose life was cut short so violently. The Fremont County Sheriff's Office holds the case file, and anyone with information is urged to come forward.