Missing teen found dead inside Colorado chimney seven years after disappearance

Eighteen-year-old Joshua Maddux vanished after going for a walk near his Colorado home in 2008. Seven years later, his remains were discovered trapped inside a chimney — but how he ended up there remains an unanswered question.

Joshua Maddux lived in Woodland Park, Colorado, with his father and two sisters. Described as creative and kind, Josh enjoyed writing, music, and hiking through the nearby Pike National Forest.

Life had not been easy for the family — Josh had lost his older brother, Zachary, to suicide just two years earlier — but friends said he was optimistic and seemed happy before his disappearance.

On May 8, 2008, Josh left home for what appeared to be a routine walk. When he didn’t return that evening, his family began searching the neighborhood. After five days with no sign of him, his father reported him missing.

Police, friends, and volunteers scoured the forest and nearby trails for weeks, but no clues emerged. For years, his family held out hope that Josh had started a new life somewhere else.

The shocking discovery

In August 2015, construction workers demolishing an old cabin on Meadowlark Lane — less than a mile from the Maddux home — made a grim discovery.

Inside one of the cabin’s chimneys, wedged in a fetal position, was a mummified body later identified through dental records as Joshua Maddux.

“When his body was found, he wore only a thin thermal shirt,” police said. “His pants, shoes, and socks were folded neatly inside the cabin.”

Even more puzzling, a heavy wooden breakfast bar had been dragged across the fireplace opening, blocking it from the inside.

“I about had a heart attack,” Joshua’s father, Mike Maddux, said after learning the news.

Conflicting theories

Teller County Coroner Al Born initially ruled the death accidental, suggesting Josh may have tried to enter the cabin through the chimney, become stuck, and died of hypothermia. There were no signs of trauma, weapons, or drugs.

But Chuck Murphy, the cabin’s owner, disagreed. “There’s no way that guy crawled inside that chimney with that steel webbing,” he said, noting that he had installed a wire mesh to keep animals out.

Murphy also pointed out that the cabin was filthy and full of debris — not a place anyone would try to enter voluntarily.

Reopened but unresolved

Due to the conflicting evidence, Born later reopened the investigation, saying the manner of death could be “accident, homicide, or undetermined.” He acknowledged that Joshua’s position inside the chimney — headfirst — suggested that he might not have entered alone.

“This one really taxed our brains,” Born said. “We don’t know why he took off his clothes, or why he would climb the roof and go down the chimney. It was not linear thinking.”

Over time, police received tips about a man who allegedly bragged about putting Josh “in a hole.” The individual, who had known Josh and had a history of violence, was later imprisoned for an unrelated murder. However, no evidence linked him to Josh’s death.

Murphy said he had occasionally noticed a foul smell around the cabin but assumed it came from animals. Since the cabin was isolated, no one would have heard Josh’s cries if he had become trapped.

For the Maddux family, the discovery ended years of uncertainty but brought no peace. “It doesn’t make sense,” Josh’s sister Kate said. “We expected him to be out there living his life somewhere.”

Murphy echoed the sentiment: “We’ll never really know what happened to him. It’s a horror story to imagine what he went through.”

Today, the death of Joshua Maddux remains one of Colorado’s most haunting unsolved mysteries — a case that continues to raise more questions than answers.