A Ridgway woman who was reported missing Monday night was found dead in a deep, water-filled mine shaft on Red Mountain Pass.
Rescuers found Jennifer Nelson, 54, early Tuesday morning after accidentally spotting the dogs that had been with her. The dogs remained in the area of the pit and were silently watching the volunteers.
Nelson had been walking the dogs in the area of Spirit Gulch, located above the historic Idarado Houses near mile marker 82 on U.S. Highway 550, in the Uncompahgre National Forest. The area, accessed via a gated old mining road, has numerous mine relics, and it’s popular with hikers looking for wildflowers in the summer.
Nelson, a member of the Ridgway Planning Commission, was reported missing Monday night around 8:30 p.m., according to the Ouray County Sheriff’s Office. Initial reports indicate she didn’t return home, and a relative found her vehicle parked at the trailhead. First responders with the Ouray County Sheriff’s Office and the Ouray Mountain Rescue Team searched in the dark for her on Monday night.
Her body was found in the early morning hours Tuesday, just as teams were preparing to leave and come back after sunrise, according to Ouray Mountain Rescue Team spokesman Tim Pasek.
After searching in the dark for hours, the searchers planned to leave and come back in the morning, when someone caught sight of a reflection. A volunteer was walking behind a vehicle with lights shining into the darkness, listening closely for any sounds.
“He just happened to see a reflection of light, the dogs’ eyes reflecting in the dark,” Pasek said. “The dogs were silent.”
Volunteers reached the dogs, not far from the road, and quickly found the hole leading into the ground.
The rescue team was able to lower a volunteer down the mine shaft, using a rope system. Pasek said they reached Nelson’s body in the water, 8 to 10 feet down the shaft, and recovered her body.
“We don’t even know how deep it is,” Pasek said of the shaft.
The shaft is located about a quarter-mile up the mine access road. It’s only about 50 feet off the road, just up a hillside, Pasek said.
The shaft led straight down, and the rescue volunteer who descended into it for the recovery described it as roughly 8 feet wide, and without rock features to use to grab onto and climb out.
“He is a world-class competitive climber and he said, ‘I don’t think I could have climbed out of that pit,'” Pasek said.
If the dogs had not been in the area, and the volunteers hadn’t spotted them, it’s unclear how long it would have taken to find Nelson’s body.
“Unless you walk right on top of it, you’re not going to find it,” Pasek said.
Pasek recommends hikers stay aware of their surroundings and hike with a partner who can get help if an accident happens.
Colorado’s rich mining history has left behind thousands of these kinds of hazardous openings. Since 1980, the state has secured more than 10,500 hazardous openings, according to the Division of Mine Reclamation and Safety. The U.S. Forest Service also closes mine openings for safety, and most recently identified six mine openings for closures near Engineer Pass for the Diamond Creek Abandoned Mine Lands Safety Closure Project.
The state’s inactive mine reclamation program has installed grates or other types of closures securing mine openings in the region, including a recent project on an old mine shaft near the Ouray Ice Park. These closures allow wildlife, including bats, to gain access to the mines for habitat, but keep people out for safety reasons.
“I don’t think anybody knows about this one,” Pasek said. “They need to cap it soon.”
According to the Ouray County Coroner’s Office, Nelson’s death is still under investigation pending an autopsy, with cooperation from the Colorado Bureau of Investigation and the Ouray County Sheriff’s Office.
Editor’s note: The Plaindealer has given permission to members of the Colorado News Collaborative (COLab) through On the Ground Colorado to republish this story. COLab is an association of more than 200 news outlets across the state.
