Jefferson County, Co. – Jefferson County Sheriff’s investigators arrested Christopher Sorensen (dob 091952) on November 10, 2009, in Grand Junction, Colorado, after an arrest warrant was issued in Jefferson County for First Degree Murder. 

In recent months, the Jeffco Sheriff’s Office Cold Case Unit began re-investigating the 1981 homicide of Anthony Yanish, a 29-year-old male from Paonia, Colorado.  The original investigation began around noon on March 10, 1981, after Yanish’s body was discovered adjacent to the roadway by a jogger in the 4500 block of Easley Rd.  Yanish had been shot.

During the course of the original investigation, investigators determined that Yanish was last seen in Glenwood Springs on March 9.  Yanish had been employed as a coal miner at the Hawk’s Nest Mine and was off for a few days due to a work stoppage protesting black lung disease.  He and a friend had spent the day between Paonia and Glenwood Springs before his friend ran out of money and headed back to Paonia.  In 1981, Jeffco investigators responded to Paonia, to track Yanish’s activities, and talk with relatives, friends, and acquaintances.  The case remained unsolved for 28 years.

Earlier this year, investigators received a tip that proved to bring new life to the case.  After months of tenacious investigation, the cold case investigator was able to uncover many previously undisclosed details about the homicide, resulting in the arrest of Christopher Sorensen.

Although many new details about this case cannot be shared, family members and sheriff’s investigators are pleased to bring closure and justice to this 28-year-old case. 

Sorensen is currently being held with no bond in the Jefferson County Jail for First Degree Murder.

 Anthony Yanish

Christopher Sorensen