The search for Joshua Maddux went on for seven years without any success. However, a shocking discovery was eventually made: a mummified body was found inside a chimney in a cabin just two blocks away from the Maddux family home.

On May 8, 2008, Joshua Maddux, who was 18 years old at the time, left his home to go on a leisurely walk, which was not uncommon for him as he was a nature lover and free spirit. However, when he did not return, a turn of events occurred.

The Disappearance Of Joshua Maddux

Joshua was born on March 9, 1990, in Woodland Park, Colorado. He was known for his creative intellect and free spirit and enjoyed writing and listening to music in his spare time. He was a good student and well-liked by his classmates. He lived with his father Mike, and two sisters, Kate and Ruth after his parents divorced. Tragically, Joshua's brother Zachary passed away from depression at the age of 18 in 2006.

After not returning home for several days, Joshua's father filed a missing person report on May 13, 2008. "I got up one morning, and Josh was there, then he just never came home. The next day he still didn't come home. I called his friends, but nobody had seen him. Nobody knows where he is."

The Search For Joshua Maddux

Despite dedicating days, weeks, and months to searching, the missing person's whereabouts remained unknown. The police initially assumed that the person had either run away from home or harmed themselves, due to the fact that their brother Zachary had killed himself two years prior. However, the person's friends and family insisted that this was not the case.

Joshua was a bright and joyful young man who was well-liked by his classmates and peers, making it unlikely that he would have fled or harmed himself. His past showed no signs of mental illness, no known enemies, and no accusations of drug use. There was no reason to believe that he had made a conscious decision to disappear.

The search for Joshua lasted for seven years but was ultimately unsuccessful. That is until a mummified body was found inside a cabin chimney, just two blocks from the Maddux family home. This was a frightening discovery.

The Cabin In The Woods

In the 1950s, Chuck Murphy purchased a cabin in the area that had previously been known as the Thunderhead Branch. This cabin had a reputation as an infamous drinking and dining place, owned by a man named "Big Bert" Bergstrom. Murphy's brother lived in the cabin until 2005, after which it deteriorated into a decrepit storage facility that Murphy rarely visited.

On August 6, 2015, Chuck Murphy started to demolish the cabin for property development. However, as an excavator tore down the chimney, a gruesome discovery was made, forcing him to stop. Inside the chimney was a mummified human body, bent over in a fetal position with its legs above its head.

Upon making the discovery, Chuck Murphy immediately called the police for assistance. When they arrived, they were accompanied by forensic experts and the county coroner. Using dental records, they were able to identify the corpse, and the results of this identification were shocking to all involved.

Joshua Maddux: The Boy In The Chimney

The body found inside the chimney was identified as that of the missing Joshua Maddux. Autopsy results showed that Joshua had no drugs in his system and did not have any broken bones or gunshot or knife wounds.

Assumptions Of Joshua Maddux's Death

According to the coroner, Al Born, Joshua's death was not sudden and he probably died of hypothermia or dehydration. Born declared Joshua's death to be an accident.

Coroner Al Born hypothesizes that Joshua Maddux, who was 6 feet tall and weighed 150 pounds, may have attempted to descend the chimney and became stranded, making it too far for anyone to hear his cries for help. This could explain his accidental death.

However, Chuck Murphy strongly denies that Joshua's death was accidental. He believes that someone put Joshua inside the chimney. If this is true, it would have required at least two people to place Joshua in the position in which he was found. Nonetheless, it would have been necessary for Joshua to enter the chimney head first.

Accidental Death?

Many people believe that foul play is involved in Joshua's death for a few reasons. Chuck Murphy had put steel rebar on the chimney to prevent problems with animals and debris. However, Born claimed that no rebar was found at the crime scene, despite the cabin being a construction zone when the body was discovered and the rebar having previously been dismantled and removed. This has led some to question the circumstances of Joshua's death.

A large wooden breakfast bar had been taken off a kitchen wall and placed in front of the fireplace.

When Joshua was found, he was wearing only a thermal shirt. His other clothes, including his socks and shoes, were inside the cabin, neatly folded next to the fireplace.

There are many inconsistencies in this situation that raise questions. For example, would Joshua have gone into the chimney on his own, taken off his clothes, shoes, and socks, and crawled up the chimney? If so, how did the breakfast bar end up in front of the fireplace? The cause of death was still listed as "accidental death" despite these inconsistencies.

The Suspect!

It was later revealed that a man named Andrew Richard Newman had been one of the last people to see Joshua alive, and a witness claimed that Andrew had even boasted about killing him.

Andrew Richard Newman had a history of criminal activity, including attacking a police officer, drunkenness, grand theft, and battery. He had even been convicted of stabbing a disabled man to death. Furthermore, he admitted to murdering a woman and putting her in a barrel in Taos, New Mexico. However, the police had already arrested someone else for the woman's murder and chose to charge that person instead of Andrew.

At the time, Joshua's friends tried to get the police to investigate Andrew, but their concerns were dismissed. The authorities told them that Joshua was still alive and well. Nevertheless, Andrew is reported to have boasted about "putting Josh in a hole."

Kate Maddux has organized a fundraiser to cover the costs of a memorial service and to donate to charities that work to find missing people.