Asian American teen's 2017 death being investigated by FBI as a hate crime

 

Asian American teen's 2017 death being investigated by FBI as a hate crime

By Angelo Locsin

DENVER — The FBI has revealed that it is investigating the 2017 death of an Asian American teenager in Colorado as a possible hate crime, a grisly case in which local authorities said she was purposefully set on fire and burned alive in her family’s mountain community home.

The FBI said in a statement Monday to Denver news station KCNC-TV that it was looking into the death of 17-year-old Maggie Long as a “hate crime matter.”

Long’s death was ruled a homicide, and authorities later released composite sketches of at least three men they believed were involved in her death. No arrests have been made.

The FBI did not provide any information about why agents are looking at the possibility of a hate crime and did not immediately respond to telephone and email messages from The Associated Press on Tuesday.

Long’s body was found inside her family’s home in December 2017 in Bailey, a mountain community about 45 miles southwest of Denver. A fire had broken out following a report of a disturbance.

Investigators believe there was an altercation between Long and her attackers before the fire started. Park County Sheriff Tom McGraw has said that Long was “purposely set on fire and burned alive.”

A Beretta handgun, an AK-47-style rifle, 2,000 rounds of ammunition, a safe and jade figurines were stolen from the home, authorities have said.