The Colorado Bureau of Investigation (CBI) warned concerned residents about a flyer circulating through Bailey, sharing incorrect information about the death of 17-year-old Maggie Long.

Long was found dead in her burned home near Bailey on Dec. 1, 2017. The home was determined to have been burglarized before it was set on fire, with preliminary investigations pointing toward multiple suspects.

In the past month, flyers began appearing in stores around Bailey with a phone number listed for tips, said to be by the “Local Maggie Long Task Force.”

The flyers also said the case had gone cold, with no answers after eight years.

The CBI issued a press release Friday noting that the flyers are not from actual law enforcement and that the case has not gone cold, with the investigation transition in 2021 to a “dedicated state-led task force to streamline resources and digital security.”

“One of the investigators from CBI was up in the area doing some work on the case and came across these flyers and was wondering what they were, and then that’s when we started to look,” Park County Sheriff Tom McGraw told The Denver Gazette’s news partner, 9NEWS. “Then we realized that they were not from any law enforcement agency, so that’s when we started reaching out and trying to figure out what was going on with it.”

Both McGraw and the CBI noted that multiple agencies, like the FBI and sheriff’s office, continue to work on the case as a “top priority.”

Someone called 911 from Long’s home prior to the fire, reporting that at least one person was inside of the home, according to the FBI report. Long’s body was found after the fire was extinguished, with a physical altercation believed to have taken place between Long and the suspects before the fire started.

The incident occurred after Long left school to drive home before a concert that took place later that night. Her family wasn’t home, but a tenant who rented a unit at the property was, later cleared as a suspect.

Items stolen from the home included a Beretta handgun, a AK-47-style rifle, 2,000 rounds of ammunition, jade figurines and a safe, according to previous reporting.

Regardless, the CBI and McGraw said information and tips should be going to actual investigators, not the grassroots task force.

“I do not believe that they’re doing this to hinder our case or anything,” McGraw said of the flyers. “I just think that they have got some bad information about the case.”

There is a $75,000 reward for information that leads to an arrest and conviction in Long’s death.

Anyone with information is asked to contact the official tip line at 303-239-4243. An email can also be submitted to maggie.long.tips@state.co.us. 

9News contributed to this report.