Editor's Note June 2024:
Four people died within four days in Colorado waters recently, and another man remains missing, swept away by the Colorado River during a rafting accident in Grand County. The deaths bring 2024 water-related fatalities to at least 12, with the outdoor water recreation season just getting started.
The recent fatalities include:
- The missing man’s 56-year-old rafting partner from the June 1 Colorado River outing in Grand County.
- A man in his 20s, who died on June 2 after going under water and never re-emerging from Chatfield Reservoir in Littleton. His body was later pulled from the water, following a search-and-rescue effort.
- A woman who died after the commercial raft she was in hit a bridge pylon on the Cache la Poudre River west of Fort Collins on May 30.
- A 65-year-old woman who died on May 31 after falling from her bicycle and into Boulder Creek while riding with her husband.
The deadly four-day string of accidents has experts reminding outdoor recreationists to wear life vests and remain aware of weather and surroundings. The following article posted last year offers more life-saving advice from Todd Miner, EdD, senior instructor in the Department of Emergency Medicine:
A 25-year-old tourist visiting Rocky Mountain National Park slipped while viewing a waterfall on July 3, plummeting to the pool below, where forceful hydraulics sucked him in and held him under. Within seconds, a summer vacation turned tragic, his body recovered downstream later that evening.