LARIMER COUNTY, Colo. – The man found dead Friday morning in the Big Thompson River southwest of Drake was a Texas man staying with his brothers and friends at a nearby cabin, the sheriff’s office said Friday afternoon.
The 37-year-old man, whose identity has not been released, had been hiking to the cabin with his brother shortly after 9 p.m. between mile markers 70 and 71 off Highway 34 when the two got separated in the dark, according to Lt. John Feyen of the Larimer County Sheriff’s Office.
The cabin was only about a half-mile from where they had parked. But after the brother arrived, he and his friends realized the man never made it to the cabin.
They looked for him until it became too dark, according to Feyen, which is when they contacted Estes Park police and the sheriff’s office.
The Larimer County Search and Rescue team started searching for the man Friday morning. Around 9:20 a.m., fishermen called the sheriff’s office to report a body in the river. It was pulled out of the river and identified as the missing man.
The county coroner will determine the man’s cause and manner of death and release his identity once family members are notified.
