Town file
Whitewater, Colorado
Whitewater, Colorado (Mesa County, Colorado) is the town in one episode of Small Town Murder, the comedy true-crime podcast: episode 709, "Like An Evil Onion" (18 June 2026). Alan Clark Helmick was born on August 27, 1945 in Delta, Colorado, one of five children.
- Town
- Whitewater
- County
- Mesa County
- State
- Colorado
- Country
- USA
- Episodes
- 709
- Approximate location
- 38.991, -108.453
Episode 709 / 18 June 2026 / 178 min / full
Like An Evil Onion
"This is Whitewater, Colorado, north central Colorado ... this is in Mesa County, up in the high ground there." about 0:05:14
The case: Murder of Alan Helmick (June 10, 2008). Read the case file.
The figures, as told in 2026
- Population
- 1,975
- Median age
- 51.3
- Median household income
- $77,000
- Median home value
- $454,100
- Two-bedroom rent
- $1,070
- Cost of living
- 99
- Religious
- 35.7%
- Property crime
- ▼ about 20% below
- Violent crime
- ▼ about 25% below
History, in brief
- Ute people were forcibly removed from the Grand Valley in 1881 and moved onto reservations; the Ute or Grand Valley curse is said to doom anyone who lives in the valley, especially Native Americans who return. about 0:06:34
- Ute legend says giant eagle-like Thunderbirds lived atop Grand Mesa, attacked a Ute village and carried off children; a warrior disguised as a tree climbed to their nest and threw the eggs off a cliff. about 0:08:29
- In the legend the Thunderbirds tore apart a giant serpent and the pieces created the many lakes of the Grand Mesa. about 0:09:15
- A woman in a long white dress, the Horse Thief Canyon lady, is said to appear after dark, and buildings in downtown Grand Junction report ghosts. about 0:09:29
The reviews read out
4 stars
"Peaceful, a great place to live if you want a couple of acres of elbow room, but it is four hours from any city and the nearest gas station or grocery store is six miles from this house, so you cannot walk across the street for a soda."about 0:09:59
1 star
"There are zero schools in the area; the nearest grade school is ten-plus miles away, the nearest middle school over 15 miles and the nearest high school over 30 miles, an hour bus ride each day."about 0:11:01
Nearest Small Town Murder towns
- Aspen, Colorado88 miles
- Gunnison, Colorado88 miles
- Cortez, Colorado114 miles
- Duchesne, Utah132 miles
- Price, Utah132 miles
- Breckenridge, Colorado134 miles
Everything here is as told in the episode, on the date it went out; figures and places may have changed since. Endings are covered: open an episode and use the spoiler switch to read them.