Cause of De-ath Revealed for 20-Year-Old Found Inside Her Car 4 Days After She Went Missing

The body of a young woman who disappeared in Colorado was found after a multi-day search and her cause of death has since been revealed.

Kaylee Russell, 20, was last seen on Sunday, Nov. 30, according to an initial bulletin shared by the Colorado Bureau of Investigation (CBI).

Russell was “expected to arrive at a friend’s home” after her father dropped her off at a Park-N-Ride, but “never showed up,” the agency said.

Before dropping her father off, he helped her change a flat tire.

That same day, Russell’s phone “stopped sharing any data” and she “failed to show up for work the next day,” according to a GoFundMe set up on behalf of the family, which has raised more than $22,000 as of Monday, Dec. 8.

On Thursday, Dec. 4, authorities said that a body was found when they were called to assist another department with a single vehicle crash near Timnath.

A black 2016 Volkswagen Tiguan, which was later confirmed to belong to Russell, was found “submerged in water” off the east side of Larimer County Road 1.

Inside the car, divers found a body. Although the CBI did not identify the body, they announced on Friday that their missing endangered alert for Russell had been deactivated, writing that she “has been located.”

On Monday, Dec. 8, the Larimer County Coroner’s Office confirmed the identity of the victim and said Russell was “found inside her vehicle after crashing into the canal and was pronounced dead at the scene.”

“Based on the circumstances of the scene and our death investigation, it is believed the decedent died on November 30, 2025,” the coroner’s office continued.

Her cause of death was determined to be “combined effects of blunt force injuries and cold exposure” and her manner of death was listed as accidental.

No additional information is expected to be released by the coroner.

In a touching tribute, mother Rebecca Russell said that her daughter “was a beautiful soul and loved hard.”

“She called me daily to tell me even the smallest things or when her bosses praised her,” Russell added. “You never had to wonder where you stood with her. She stood up for what she believed.”

Meanwhile, family friend Kristi Dahlstrom described Russell as “such an amazing, resilient girl,”.

“Kaylee was absolutely a hard worker,” Dahlstrom said. “Yes, sassy and stubborn at times. But that was what made her so beautiful.”