Where Chris Watts’ Family’s Dead Bodies Were Found

Chris Watts confessed to killing his pregnant wife and two young daughters in November 2018 in Weld County Colorado, north of Denver. While he initially told investigators and the media that he didn’t know where his wife and daughters were, eventually Watts confessed to killing all of them.

In Watts’ first confession he lied. He told investigators that he killed his wife, Shanann, because she killed their daughters. His story was that he’d asked for a separation and then a short time later he claimed he caught her strangling their daughters which caused him to fly into a rage and do the same to Shanaan, according to investigation documents by the Colorado Bureau of Investigations.

But later he admitted that in the early morning hours of August 13, after telling Shanaan that he wanted out of the marriage, and after some emotional conversation, he strangled her in their bed. He then told police that he wrapped Shanaan in a sheet and put her in their car, according to his confession posted on Law and Crime.

His daughters were still alive, but his 4-year-old, Bella was asking what happened to her mother, Watts told police. He told Bella her mom was sleeping. He put Bella and Celeste, who was 3, in his car and drove to the Cervi State well pump on an Andadarko Petroleum oil well site in Weld County Road 8, north of Roggen, Colorado. The Colorado Bureau of Investigations described the site as “a cattle ranch in rural Weld County with numerous oil and gas wells leased to Anadarko.”

That’s where Watts told police he smothered both of his daughters and put their bodies in two different oil wells. Watts was employed by the Anadarko Petroleum Corporation at the time. According to the CBI, the well site is in a remote area accessible by various dirt roads.

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Watts Buried Shanaan in a Shallow Grave at the Cervi Well Site

According to the CBI, upon investigating the site they located Shanaan’s body in a shallow grave, still wearing her shirt, bra and underwear. Their report said that at the highest point of her buried body there was only three inches of dirt covering her.

Ther girls were found in two different oil wells that contained crude oil. Each only had an eight-inch opening, according to the CBI. Bella was in the west oil tank and Celeste was inside the east tank. Investigators reported that they found what looked like blonde hairs on at least one of the tank rims.

In order to remove the girls from the tanks, the oil had to be drained from the well and the east tank took six hours to drain, according to the CBI report. When they finally were able to remove the children, both were wearing their nightgowns.

Investigators also found the garbage bags Watts said he put over Shanaan’s head and feet when he drove his family to the site so the girls wouldn’t have to see her, along with a sheet that matched one police previously found in the garbage at their house. They also found part of a broken rake that Watts confessed to using to clear the brush where he buried Shanann.

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Watts Told Police Bella Saw Him Suffocate Celeste & Put Her in the Oil Well

In Watts’ confession, he said he smothered his 3-year-old daughter who they called CeCe by putting a blanket over her head and covering her mouth and nose with his hands as his daughter Bella watched. He then took Celeste to the east well and dropped her in feet first, he told police. According to the confession notes he “may have had to manipulate her to get her inside.”

Then Watts did the same thing to Bella, but he told police she said, “No, Daddy!” and put up a fight while he suffocated her. Watts then put Bella’s little body in the well and went to bury Shanann.

Watts told investigators that he used a rake, which broke, to try to clear some brush and weeds, then used a shovel to dig a hole to bury his wife.

Watts was sentenced to five life sentences without the possibility of parole. According to the New York Times, the judge said, “This is perhaps the most inhumane and vicious crime I have handled out of the thousands of cases that I have seen.”

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