Terri Ann Ackerman was 56 years old when she disappeared from Lochbuie (Lock-buoy), Colorado on August 23, 2018. Her remains were found IN HER HOME in late 2025.
Terri’s family have said that she enjoyed reading books, watching tv, listening to music and finding joy in life’s little things.
Terri married a man named Delbert Ackerman on March 21, 2011 in Maryland. Terri had been in the military there and the couple stayed in Maryland for a while, before moving to Lochbuie, Colorado.
Terri’s family have said that her behavior changed once she married Delbert. Delbert was said to be controlling and they often fought. Her daughter Ambyr has said that one day while she was driving to her mother’s house, she could hear screaming coming from the home.
Delbert has a son named Christopher. Terri would tell family members that she did not like Christopher and that she felt unsafe around him.
Ambyr has written about the state of her mother’s marriage:
She would mention that he would break her down, saying she was useless and would never be anything without him, and she wouldn’t be able to take care of herself financially. He would intentionally ignore her, making her feel so bad that she would constantly apologize for things so he wouldn’t be mad at her anymore. She stated that he would put her down, especially when he was drinking, making her feel afraid to be in her own home.
A couple of months before she went missing, I became alarmed due to a statement she advised Dale had made to her. My mother was hospitalized due to being found unconscious in her home, and the ambulance had to take her to the hospital; it is still unclear as to what may have caused this. She informed me they were in a verbal altercation a couple of months after this incident, and Dale stated, “I wish you would have just died.” At this time, I felt I had to start taking action and advising my mom that she needed to think about leaving him. She agreed, and I began helping her leave him behind his back. I felt that if she told him she was leaving him, she would have more significant issues at home, but looking back, I guess I was wrong.
Terri’s family have said that in the months prior to August 2018, she was planning to divorce Delbert. She opened a new bank account and had been looking into state assistance programs to help her with the divorce. Ambyr was helping Terri to begin the process.
Ambyr’s partner is a man named Jesse Contreras. Jesse’s mother Geraldine became close with Terri and Terri confided in her. Terri told her about the deteriorating state of her marriage and Geraldine offered for Terri to move in with her.
One of Terri’s granddaughters, Amariana Carolus, has written online about the lead up to her disappearance, so we will start with that.
According to Amariana, Terri was in a fairly good mood on the afternoon of Tuesday, August 23 2018. She was at Ambyr’s home. She said goodbye to her daughter and her grandchildren, and she left their home to drive to her own home in Lochbuie. This was a 20-30 min drive. When Terri arrived at her home at 4.30pm, she called Ambyr to let her know that she had gotten back safely.
Terri had been due to watch Ambyr’s children the following day. Terri typically did this at least three days a week. A few hours after she arrived home, she called Ambyr and was in distress. She said she would be unable to watch the children as planned. She claimed to not have slept and was exhausted. This call was apparently made at 6.30pm and Ambyr was due to leave for work at 3am the following day. She worked as a 911 dispatcher. This meant Terri would likely have had to leave home by 2.30am to watch the kids so that could explain her claim of exhaustion?
This is Ambyr’s version of events:
Later that night, a couple of hours later, she called me; this time, she sounded upset. She cried, told me she couldn’t watch the kids, and asked me if I was mad. I told her no, Mom, I’m not angry; I don’t understand. She told me she hadn’t slept well the night before and was just tired. I completely understood, and I told her it was okay, not to worry, I would figure it out, and that she should shower and go to bed. That was the last time I ever heard from my mom again.
Ambyr has said that she assumed Terri would go to bed after the phone call. Ambyr’s fiance ended up taking the day off to watch the children instead of Terri.
Ambyr went to work as planned. At 6am, Jesse and the kids were awoken by a knock at the door. He opened the door to find Terri’s husband Delbert (also known as Dale) Ackerman standing there. Delbert said he was there to babysit the kids as Terri was unable to.
According to Amariana, Delbert pulled up to the home around an hour prior to 6am and he sat in his vehicle. What he did during that time is unknown.
Jesse was rightfully confused. He said it was unusual for Terri or Delbert to make changes to plans without informing them first. Jesse told Delbert that he had already taken the day off to care for the kids. Delbert was hesitant to leave as he said he had driven the 30 mins to reach the home.
Delbert did not end up leaving straight away. He stayed at the home until 11am before driving to a marijuana dispensary. He went back to Jesse’s home and helped him fix a fence.
Delbert ended up driving back to his and Terri’s home in Lochbuie. You can see the home here.
Ambyr arrived home from work and Jesse told her about the weird events of the day. They discussed it and just passed it off as being unusual, but not alarming.
At 8pm that night, Delbert called Ambyr and told her that Terri was missing.
Delbert said that when he had left the home at around 5am to go to Ambyr’s house, Terri was sleeping in bed. He said that when he returned, she was nowhere to be found. Her cell phone, wallet, keys and cigarettes were left behind. Her car was also at their home.
Delbert told Ambyr that he drove through Lochbuie looking for Terri. He couldn’t find her and said he went straight to the police station to file a missing person report.
Ambyr was confused about his strategy. She has said that Terri had no other family or close friends in the area and that the only place she would have gone would be to Ambyr’s home. Ambyr wondered why Delbert did not call her to check first, before apparently looking for her?
Ambyr went to Delbert and Terri’s home and noticed that his white pickup was gone. The vehicle was usually parked in the driveway.
Ambyr also noticed that every trash can and recycling bin had been emptied, even though it was not garbage pickup day.
Ambyr told authorities about the missing truck and Delbert was questioned by police. He told them it was at a car repair business that he owned, for dent repair.
Delbert picked the vehicle up a few days later and it was still covered in dents. The family do not know if investigators ever followed up on the repair shop claim.
Ambyr said that after her mother vanished, she drove unannounced to Delbert’s home. She found him and his son Christopher there, deep in conversation. When the man saw Ambyr, they stopped talking and Christoper abruptly stood up and exited the home.
Authorities searched Terri and Delbert’s home and found no evidence of foul play. A search and rescue K9 team was also deployed around the property but nothing was found.
Ambyr spoke to the media and she said “She was happy. You know, her family was everything. That makes me believe she just wouldn’t do this to us.”
Ambyr conducted searches for her mother across Colorado. She has said that any time she asked Delbert for help, he refused.
Delbert also agreed to take a polygraph test. He allegedly told Ambyr that he knew how to lie on the test. He did take the test but the results were never made public. Christopher was also asked to take a test and he refused.
Terri did suffer from bipolar disorder. Her family believe that this is part of the reason why authorities did not conduct proper searches for her. They believe it was thought Terri was manic and had chosen to leave.
In February 2025, Delbert passed away from cancer at age 70.
Delbert’s son Sean inherited the house where Terri and Delbert had lived. It is unclear if Sean is Christopher (perhaps going by a different name) or if this is a second son.
Sean decided that the house was in such poor condition that he would sell it.
Sean found a contact who wanted to take scrap metal and junk away from the home. On September 10, 2025, that person went to the home and opened up the garage.
In the garage he found a bone. He initially thought that the bone may have been party of a Halloween decoration as there were fake skeletons set up around the property.
You can see one of the skeletons here:
The garage was reportedly stuffed with boxes from floor to ceiling and reeked of cat urine. Three feet into the mess of boxes, the man found the bone, Sean said.
Sean said a couple of boxes fell on top of the bone, obscuring it. He wonders if the police ever searched the garage.
He added that none of Terri’s belongings had been touched after he went through a trailer on the property.
‘All of her clothing was exactly where it was,’ he said. ‘Everything that she had on the bed was still on the bed. He still slept on half a bed that he hadn’t cleaned for seven years. Her pictures were there, everything was there.’
‘I just know if my dad would have known she was there, it would have killed him before the cancer did,’ Sean said.
“The biggest thing that doesn’t make sense to anybody is how cadaver dogs were out there three times and missed a body that was on the other side of a very thin piece of metal,” he said.
Most articles only mention the bone being found, but there are multiple reports of an autopsy being carried out. This seems to indicate that more remains were found? No autopsy results have been made public as of January 2025.
After the remains were found, the family launched a GFM which raised just over $4k.
After 7 years, this journey of looking for Terri is finally over, as we can finally receive closure and the justice she’s deserved. It has also brought new challenges for our family. We want to honor her memory in a way that reflects the love and kindness she shared with so many.
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