By Daily Mail (U.S.) | Created at 2024-11-16 15:51:40 | Updated at 2024-11-16 18:45:10
2 hours ago
Murdered 16-year-old Amanda Overstreet's stepfather had a felony conviction for illegal gun and drug charges, and her mother swindled relatives out of money and property, court records claim.
Amanda's severed head and hands were found in a freezer at her mother Leanne Imer's filthy 'hoarder house' in Grand Junction, Colorado in January. She was last seen alive in 2005, police say.
No arrests have been made in connection with her death.
But DailyMail.com has unearthed records showing Amanda's mother and stepfather both had a checkered legal past.
Bradley Imer, Amanda's stepfather who died of Covid in 2021 aged 61, had a felony conviction in Arizona in 2002 – three years before Amanda went missing.
He was pulled over by Flagstaff police on June 21 that year, swerving across Highway 89, allegedly high on drugs, with illegal weapons in his car, drug paraphernalia and enough meth to have him pegged as a dealer.
A cop found 'one pound of methamphetamine, several grams of cocaine, 22 pipes which contained white residue, five handguns, two rifles, a stolen handgun, two measuring scales and numerous very small empty plastic baggies,' according to court documents.
Imer willingly admitted to the officer, after he arrived at the Department of Public Safety office in Flagstaff, that he transported the meth for a payment of $5,000.
Both Amanda Overstreet's stepfather Bradley Imer and her mother Leanne have had run-ins with the courts over the years
Amanda's severed head and hands were found in a freezer at her mother Leanne Imer's filthy 'hoarder house' in Grand Junction, Colorado, in January
Bradley, who passed away in 2021, sitting outside with his son Anthony
A source close to the case told DailyMail.com that Imer was involved in the drug-trafficking criminal underground in Arizona, running drugs from the southern border up to Montana, and cut himself a sweetheart deal with the Coconino County District Attorney by snitching on several fellow criminals.
'He wanted to be a thug,' the source said. 'He wanted everybody to think he was like Al Capone.
'He flipped. They released him and transferred his probation to Mesa County, Colorado.'
The deal meant eight of the nine counts against him were dismissed, and he pleaded guilty to a sole felony charge of a dangerous drug violation, allowing him to get away with three years' probation, 200 hours of community service and a ban on owning firearms.
Yet friends of the Imers told DailyMail.com Bradley would brag about guns being littered around his home on Pinyon Avenue in Grand Junction – among the trash and feces that filled the property.
'There were guns laying everywhere in the house, on the couch, in the front room,' one family friend said. 'That was his MO.
'He was a hunting fanatic, a gun fanatic.'
Leanne and Bradley were reported to Child Protective Services (CPS) for unsanitary conditions in their home around 2007, when their young daughter Elsie was four. By then teenaged Amanda had been missing for two years – and was possibly already in pieces in their freezer.
'Brad then begins bragging about how CPS came in his house and these guns were laying all over and they didn't do sh** about it,' the family friend said.
Child Protective Services reported unsanitary conditions in the Imer house during a visit two years after Amanda went missing
There was a SWAT raid at the house after Bradley bragged to friends about having guns around the house but he allegedly stashed them at his father's house, friends told DailyMail.com
Police have been tight-lipped about Amanda's cause of death and have not announced any progress in their investigation since they identified her remains
The source added that due to concerns for the young child and reports of guns owned by felon Bradley, there was a SWAT raid of the house around that time.
'Because of the report of firearms from more than one person, and knowing that he had a record that didn't provide him with the ability to take the firearms into his home, they took SWAT in there,' the friend said.
'Supposedly they didn't find a single firearm.
'He'd brought the guns over to his dad's place to stash them away because he knew child services were coming back.'
The revelation comes after DailyMail.com reported claims by a real estate investor, who found Amanda's head when she bought the Pinyon Avenue home from Leanne, that it had a 'bullet hole' in the forehead, leading her to believe the teen had been shot 'execution-style'.
Mesa County coroner and sheriff's office are remaining tight-lipped on her exact cause of death, and have not announced any progress in their investigation since they identified Amanda's remains through DNA testing in October – more than nine months after they were found.
Both Bradley and Leanne, 55, allegedly told friends and family that Amanda had run away at a truck stop during a road trip to see her maternal family in Hardin County, Texas.
The mystery of how her body parts ended up in their garage chest freezer remains unsolved.
The conditions the house was left in after Leanne sold it was filthy and exhibited signs of hoarding
A DNA test was used in October to identify Amanda's remains nine months after her body parts were found in the freezer
A Grand Junction homebuyer who bought the Pinyon Avenue home from Leanne told Rachel Valentine, Amanda's high school friends that she saw the decapitated head had a 'bullet hole'
And Amanda's mother Leanne has left her own trail of legal controversies.
Texas court records show the mother was accused of stealing from her own family, allegedly abusing the power of attorney she had over her father to transfer land out of his name and forging loan documents with her aunt's signature to get thousands of dollars.
Amanda was raised from age three by her maternal grandmother Nelda Overstreet in the small town of Kountze, Texas, near Houston.
But when Nelda was on her deathbed from an aggressive cancer, Leanne took back custody and whisked her away to Colorado.
Two weeks after Nelda's death, Leanne obtained power of attorney for her father, James Overstreet, 80.
She then started using the new power to transfer 35 acres of land James owned to herself and her daughter Elsie, according to Texas court documents.
It appears James didn't realize until 2020 when he filed an affidavit with the Hardin County recorder revoking the power of attorney.
'That deed was made without my permission, as it was never my intention that she should convey any of my land to herself or to her daughter under that Power of Attorney,' the furious grandfather wrote.
He said he gave the legal power to her only 'to handle my business affairs.'
'I was never incapacitated at any time during the term of the Power of Attorney. That Power of Attorney has since been revoked and I [...] hereby disavow said Deed.'
There were no criminal charges in that case.
Leanne's aunt, Nancy Gandy, also sued her in Hardin County in November 2020 claiming Leanne forged her signature on student loans.
Nancy, Nelda's 77-year-old sister, said she co-signed a $9,000 loan from Sallie Mae Bank on October 26, 2007, for her niece to pay for a college course Leanne was taking in later life.
Amanda was raised from age three by her maternal grandmother Nelda Overstreet in the small town of Kountze, Texas, near Houston until she became severely ill
Nancy, Nelda's 77-year-old sister, sued Leanne after she forged her signature on student loans - she was later awarded $29,102.87 in February 2021
But Nancy said that Leanne also took out two other loans in August 2007 and March 2008 for a total of $8,150.
'[Nancy] was not aware of this loan when it was made and never agreed to co-sign the loan or be liable for the repayment,' her lawsuit said – but added that the loan company told her that her signature 'was provided electronically'.
'As Leanne received the loan proceeds from such loan, it would appear th[at] Leanne provided the unauthorized signature,' the court documents said.
The court awarded Nancy a judgment against Leanne in February 2021 for $29,102.87.
Leanne did not respond to a request for comment. Her son, Anthony, told DailyMail.com that previous stories about his mother were 'lies' and that she would not make any public statements without an attorney.
