By Sarah Langbein SarahLangbein@coloradoan.com As the book closes in the case against Jason Clausen, the detective recognized in his conviction said the spotlight should be directed at her team and the department. Ginger Mohs, Fort Collins police's lead detective in the Clausen case, watched from the side of the prosecution April 3 as the 22-year-old pleaded guilty to the murder of Lacy Miller. Clausen was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole. Ginger Mohs • Age: 30 • Education: Sociology degree from Colorado State University • Profession: Fort Collins police detective "This is not a one-person case. This is an agency — a community case," the 30-year-old Mohs said. For nearly 11 weeks, Mohs lived and worked the case. The department's lab, criminal-impact unit and crimes-against-persons unit, which Mohs is part of, pooled their resources for a hard-hitting investigation. "We pretty much worked every day, even the weekends for two weeks," she said. "That's the whole team." Meals from McDonald's and Subway became daily nourishment for Mohs as she worked 20-hour days, only returning home for short catnaps. Mohs credits her unit teammates, in particular, for a case well done. "This team functions very well together," said Tom McLellan, commander of the detective bureau. "Everyone works for that case. They make themselves advocates for the victim. … Their only interest is putting together a superior case for the District Attorney's Office to get a conviction." Mohs estimates about 20 people from Fort Collins police flooded crime scenes, inspected impounded vehicles, examined Miller's burial site and interviewed witnesses. That number, she said, does not include the resources police received from other agencies such as the Larimer County Sheriff's Office, coroner's office and Poudre Fire Authority. Even before Clausen was targeted as a suspect, much of the police department's investigation into Miller's disappearance was already being done. "We do so much of the work up front. That's why we're so successful," she said confidently. "We were working it as a suspicious missing-person case." Mohs coordinated the information coming from her teammates. She completed the paperwork — sorting it in an immaculate, color-coded fashion — and filed the case with the District Attorney's Office. Had the case gone to trial, Mohs would have testified. "You never know when you begin something like this how it's going to end up," she said. "It's not always black and white." But Mohs was pleased Clausen took a plea agreement, sparing the community, the court system, police and both families a gruesome, lengthy trial. "Can you have a good family — good people — raise and love a person like Jason Clausen?" Mohs said of the Clausen family. "Yes, you can." Her remaining duties include returning evidence from thousands of pieces gathered and logging the case file into evidence. It will clear a large space, once occupied by a locked filing cabinet, from her work area. Every time Mohs walked away from her desk, she had to lock the rolling cabinet because of a court-imposed gag order, she said. Once that is completed, she'll begin taking new cases again for the crimes-against-persons unit, she said with anticipation. "When one person comes out of our unit (to work a case), you can feel it," she said. • • • • • Mohs, a Fort Collins native and graduate of Centennial High School, joined Fort Collins police in 1995 straight out of Colorado State University. While in college, she worked for campus police and did some dispatching. The chatter from the police scanner caught her attention and pushed her to work in law enforcement. Her original plan to follow a line of work involving math and statistics wasn't going to cut it. "I never got to interact with people," she said. "And I love working with people." She carried her street smarts and life experience with her as a street cop. For four years she patrolled Fort Collins. From there she moved to the detective bureau and eventually to the crimes-against-persons unit, working cases such as felony child abuse, sexual assaults and homicides. "It's the best job. I love my job," she said. Directly in front of Mohs, as she works at her desk, hangs a picture of Miller that was distributed at her funeral. It's a constant reminder of a case that she poured her energy and might into. All of her other paperwork sits in neat, orderly piles on her desk. Mohs said her family, friends and co-workers keep her sane in the most emotionally charged situations. She admits to having sleepless nights when thoughts of a case flood her head. But that doesn't happen all of the time; she's learned to put things into perspective. • • • • • On Jan. 21, Clausen's roommate, Eric Jensen, arrived at the police station saying he saw a dead body. It wasn't the first time she had heard Clausen's name. Clausen completed one or two ride-alongs with Mohs while he was part of the police Explorer Scout program from March to November 1998. Mohs said nothing separated Clausen from the other scouts, calling him "appropriately interested" in law enforcement. There were no warning signs that Clausen would use his knowledge of law enforcement to impersonate an officer years later. Jensen told police he saw the feet of a dead body in the back of Clausen's Ford Expedition in the early hours of Jan. 19, about 24 hours after Miller's disappearance. The rest of her body was wrapped in tarps and duct tape, he told police. "Everything Eric was telling us had to be verified in another way," she said. Detectives and crime-scene investigators were sent out to Severance Self-Storage, where Clausen had rented a unit, and to his home at 720 N. Hillcrest Drive. Jensen also gave them pertinent information that ultimately led to Miller's burial site in Poudre Canyon. But even now, as Clausen remains behind bars for the rest of his natural life, many questions remain unknown — such as what was the murder weapon and what happened to Miller from around 1:30 a.m. Jan. 18 until Jensen saw her body. "Does it bother me? Yes, it bothers me," Mohs said of the unanswered questions. "But can I go on? Yes. Can I go on to other cases? Yes." Just as long as Clausen stays behind bars, she said.

Sarah Langbein