It is a haunting reality that sometimes the justice system has to close a book when the most important chapter is still missing. When people search for the Lea Porter cause of death, they are usually looking for a clinical answer—an autopsy report or a medical examiner’s final word. But in the case of 19-year-old Lea Porter, who vanished from Westminster, Colorado, in June 2014, there is no autopsy. There is no body.
The "official" cause of death is essentially a confession.
Christopher Waide, a high school acquaintance she was visiting, eventually admitted to killing her. He told detectives a story of a sexual encounter gone wrong, an argument over drugs, and a knife. According to his own words in court, he choked her for approximately three minutes until she went limp. As she fell, he claimed she was accidentally cut by a knife she had allegedly used to threaten him.
He then stuffed her 105-pound body into a military-style duffel bag and tossed it into a dumpster.
The Timeline That Led to a Confession
Lea traveled from Pueblo to the Denver area to start a new chapter. She was 19, full of life, and had just reached out to Waide, someone she thought she could trust. She was last seen on June 3, 2014.
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The investigation didn't start with a bang. It started with a quiet disappearance and a lot of lies. Waide initially played the role of the concerned friend. He even spoke to local news stations, looking into the camera and saying he hoped she was safe. It was a chilling performance.
"I just want her to be safe... even losing one [friend] is a heavy blow to me," Waide told reporters before his arrest.
Police eventually saw through the act. Under the pressure of surveillance and mounting evidence—including child pornography found on his computer—Waide broke. He confessed to his own family first, then to the police. He led them to a dumpster, but by then, it was too late. The trash had been collected.
Why the Body Was Never Found
This is the part that still guts the Porter family. Investigators spent over 40 grueling days at a landfill in Brighton, Colorado. They sifted through tons of literal garbage in the summer heat. They found a tennis shoe. They found a ring. But they never found Lea or the duffel bag Waide described.
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- The Landfill Logistics: The sheer volume of waste at the site made the search nearly impossible.
- The Plea Deal: To ensure a conviction without a body, the District Attorney offered a deal. Waide pleaded guilty to second-degree murder and sexual exploitation of a child.
- The Sentence: He received 48 years—the maximum for that charge—but the deal didn't require him to provide new information that actually led to her recovery.
Honestly, the Lea Porter cause of death remains a "legal" fact rather than a "medical" one. Without remains to examine, forensic experts can’t verify if she was truly choked or if the knife wound Waide mentioned was the actual fatal blow. We are forced to take the word of a killer.
Misconceptions and Legal Hurdles
A lot of people wonder why he wasn't charged with first-degree murder. In Colorado, and many other states, proving "premeditation" without a body or a murder weapon is an uphill battle for prosecutors. If they went to trial and lost, he could have walked free.
The DA, Dave Young, admitted it was a strategic move. "Anytime you don't have a body in a homicide case, there are going to be issues," he said. The family hated the deal. Her stepfather, Michael Jackson, was so enraged in court he openly talked about wanting to take justice into his own hands. You can't really blame them. They lost their daughter and the right to give her a proper burial on the same day.
What Most People Miss About the Case
The case isn't just about a murder; it’s about the digital trail. Waide wasn't just a killer; he was a predator. The sexual exploitation charges stemmed from over 20 images of child pornography found on his hard drive during the murder investigation. This painted a much darker picture of the man Lea was staying with—a man who appeared helpful but was hiding a deeply "deranged" side, as the prosecution suggested.
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Where the Case Stands Today
Christopher Waide is currently serving his sentence in the Colorado Department of Corrections. He won't be eligible for parole until he has served 75% of his 48-year term. By that time, he'll be in his early 50s.
For the family, the Lea Porter cause of death isn't a closed file. Her mother, Rene Jackson, has spent years keeping Lea's memory alive, even using private cadaver dogs to search areas the police moved on from. They still want to bring her home.
If you or someone you know has information about this case, even a decade later, the Westminster Police Department still maintains a file on Lea. Small details about the disposal of the duffel bag or the movements of trash collectors in June 2014 could still, theoretically, lead to a discovery.
Actionable Insights for Following Cold Cases:
- Support NamUs: Check the National Missing and Unidentified Persons System for updates on Lea Porter (Case #MP31992).
- Verify Sources: When researching older cases, always look for court transcripts or primary news footage from the time of the plea deal to avoid "internet lore."
- Report Leads: If you lived in the Westminster/Brighton area in 2014 and remember anything unusual near the dumpsters at Waide’s apartment complex, contact local authorities. Even "old" news can be broken with a new witness.
Lea Porter’s story is a reminder that the "cause of death" is often just the beginning of a much longer search for the truth.