Man fell off cliff after crashing car
Vail CO, Colorado
RED CLIFF ” The name of a man who fell off a cliff and died Thursday night has not yet been released by authorities, they said.
A 25-year-old was driving toward Red Cliff on Highway 24 when he lost control and skidded 300 feet down an embankment. He crashed into some trees and another embankment between Tigiwon Road and the abandoned mining town of Gilman at mile marker 150.4, authorities said.
The man survived the accident and may have walked about 100 yards to the edge of a 100-foot cliff, where he fell to his death, said Sgt. Greg Daly of the Eagle County Sheriff’s Office.
The man may have been there for as long as 24 hours, Daly said.
Authorities found the car upright and footprints leading away from it, and suspected that the man had survived and had failed to report the accident Thursday night, Daly said.
Support Local Journalism
However, the man was spotted at the bottom of the cliff from a Colorado Air National Guard helicopter on a training exercise at dusk. Rescuers took the man out of the area, Daly said.
The man had a Google map in the car showing Red Cliff as his destination, Daly said. Sheriff’s deputies searched Red Cliff for people he may have been visiting but did not find anyone, he said.
The man may have been disoriented and unfamiliar with the landscape, leading to the fall, Daly said.
Daly declined to reveal the state he was from, but the man was not from Colorado, he said.
The Eagle County Coroner’s Office did not know the cause of death because they have not done an autopsy on the body yet, said Deputy Coroner Mike Kerst.
Staff Writer Steve Lynn can be reached at 748-2931 or slynn@vaildaily.com.
