Natalie Bollinger was a 19-year-old woman who went missing from her home in Broomfield, Colorado, on December 28, 2017. Here is the timeline of events related to her disappearance and murder:
December 13, 2017:
Natalie posted a lengthy message on her Facebook page about her struggle with a stalker named Shawn Schwartz. She described the threatening emails he sent almost daily, hundreds of phone calls and text messages, and how he slept outside her workplace for several weeks despite her requests to stop.
December 28, 2017:
Natalie left her home and was never seen alive again. She posted an ad on Craigslist titled "I want to kill myself," to which Joseph Lopez responded.
December 29, 2017:
A passerby discovered Natalie's body in a wooded area by the roadside in Adams County. Her death was classified as a homicide.
February 8, 2018:
Joseph Lopez, 22, was arrested and charged with first-degree murder. Lopez was actually a hitman, but Shawn Schwartz was not the one who hired him. Instead, Lopez told authorities that Natalie had hired him herself.
Autopsy Results:
The autopsy confirmed that Natalie died from a gunshot wound to the head, but also revealed that she had a lethal dose of heroin in her system.
Investigation and Follow-Up
Shawn Schwartz:
Although Natalie mentioned Shawn Schwartz on Facebook a few weeks before her disappearance, the investigation found that he was not in the same state at the time of Natalie's death. Despite this, many still suspected that he might have been involved in the murder in some way, such as hiring a hitman. Ultimately, the police officially cleared Shawn Schwartz of all suspicions.
Joseph Lopez:
Lopez eventually pleaded guilty to second-degree murder and was sentenced to 48 years in prison as part of a plea deal with prosecutors, avoiding the life sentence he might have faced if he had chosen to go to trial. If he serves his full sentence, he will be released at the age of 71.