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Coroner releases name of man found in El Jebel irrigation ditch

Some grieving women sit next to the body of a man found Wednesday morning in an irrigation ditch in El Jebel. Eagle County sheriff's deputies were investigating the scene. (Photo by Jack Rafferty, Special to The Aspen Times)
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A deceased male found in an irrigation ditch in El Jebel Wednesday morning was identified as Jose Angel Ramos by the Eagle County coroner’s office.

Coroner Kara Bettis said an autopsy is being performed so she couldn’t release any further information such as the cause of death.

The Eagle County Sheriff’s Office said it is conducting an investigation along with the coroner’s office. “At this time, detectives do not suspect anything criminal in this incident,” the sheriff’s office said in a news release.

Authorities were called to the site south of the El Jebel baseball diamond at 7:01 a.m. The irrigation ditch where the body was found parallels El Jebel Road, with the ditch on the west side of the road.



“The party was found unconscious in the irrigation ditch,” said Basalt Deputy Fire Chief Pete Bradshaw. An ambulance crew rushed to the nearby scene from the El Jebel station.

“It was quickly determined he was deceased,” Bradshaw said. He said the body had been removed from the ditch prior to the ambulance crew arriving.

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The body was covered with a sheet and in the grass next to the ditch during the investigation. The scene was highly visible during the morning commute. Some grieving women were sitting next to the body. Eagle County deputy sheriffs had blocked access on a pedestrian path alongside the ditch.

Robert Hubbell of Crawford Properties, which owns a substantial amount of land in the El Jebel area, said a pedestrian on a nearby path saw the body and flagged over an employee of Crawford Properties. That employee called 911, he said. Hubbell said it was his understanding that the man had relatives in El Jebel Mobile Home Park and Blue Lake subdivision.


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