AURORA, Colo — The Aurora Police Department (APD) on Thursday evening said a 15-year-old girl and a 17-year-old boy have been arrested and charged with first-degree murder in connection with a homicide investigation that started as a missing person's report.
On Dec. 30, officers responded to a report of a missing person in the 1400 block of South Salem Way. Several days later, police said they learned information indicating there were suspicious circumstances in the case.
On Jan. 1, the case was changed from a missing person's report to a homicide investigation after remains believed to be 24-year-old Gayland Allen were located in the foothills of Jefferson County, APD said.
"I hoped to live as long as I could to watch him grow and raise a family, and now that won’t happen now, and it deeply saddens me," said Gayland Allen's father, Gayland Allen Sr. "And it angers me. It angers me and it saddens me a lot that I won't have my son with me."
Gayland Allen Sr. said his son wasn't returning phone calls from family, and so he went to his Aurora home on Dec. 28 and checked the security cameras.
Video shows Gayland Allen Jr. leaving his home just before 1 a.m. on Dec. 28, getting into the backseat of a car and the driver speeding off toward Florida Drive and Peoria Street.
Aurora Police said Gayland Allen Jr. was reported missing on Dec. 30, but did not believe him to be at-risk at the time. His case was assigned a detective on Jan. 1.
“They didn’t have [a] detective immediately to take our information that we had," said Gayland Allen Sr. "But as a department, I won’t put that on them. They were trying diligently to get a detective on the case."
Gayland Allen Jr. was the youngest of four boys, and he had a twin sister.
She died in a swimming pool accident when she was age 8, in 2003.
"So now the family has suffered another loss," he said. "And my twins both are now deceased. So it’s just something I can’t explain."
His son had a tattoo on his arm in her memory, and he said that was how Gayland Allen Jr. was initially identified.
The Arapahoe County Coroner's Office released a report saying Gayland died of a gunshot wound.
APD said because of the age of the suspects, their identities are not being released.
This case is now being prosecuted by the 18th Judicial District Attorney's Office, APD said.
Anyone with information in the case is encouraged to call Agt. M. Ingui at 303-739-6067.
Tipsters can remain anonymous and be eligible for a reward of up to $2,000 by calling Metro Denver Crime Stoppers at 720-913 STOP (7867). An investigation is ongoing.
SUGGESTED VIDEOS | Local stories from 9NEWS