Terrible News For One of Our Own

All:

Thank you so much for your kind words and compassion. They mean a lot. even if you don't know what to say, acknowledging is helpful

It's a tragedy we still are trying to come to grips with. It's like a nuclear bomb has gone off in the middle of our family.

My mom texted me Saturday morning as I was going to work some games. I dropped everything and high-tailed it to Glenwood Springs, about three hours west of Denver, all the while communicating with other family members in the Denver area, California and my parents, who made the original call to police in Moab on Friday night when they didn't arrive. My sister's family was going down there to camp with them for the weekend and go to Arches National Park.

We've met with the coroner twice and last night with the NTSB investigator who flew in from Wisconsin. They've been great in answering all of our questions.

A more highly skilled team of coroners across the state is forming this morning and returning to the mountain to retrieve the remains of the bodies and their dog because it's widespread and quite destructive.

Myself, parents, two brothers, sister, two uncles, an aunt and some cousins are still in Rifle, about 20 miles west of Glenwood. The coroner and NTSB will meet with us either tonight or tomorrow to let us know how the recovery and investigation go today, then we will return to Denver to begin funeral plans.

My brother-in-law owned a pretty big plumbing company in Fort Collins with nearly 100 employees and my sister volunteered at the kids' school. So they are well known in the city and the outpouring from there and across the state has been just incredible.

Again, thank you all. I've been around these parts for more than a decade, and there are highs and lows. But your compassion speaks to how this place really is deep down.

Regards,
Chuck

EDIT: Some have inquired about setting up a memorial fund for funeral expenses and so forth. We do not need that.

Jeff, my brother-in-law, built up a plumbing business in Fort Collins into a large and profitable operation. The family has several rental properties as well as personal residences in Steamboat Springs and Baja. There are also large life insurance policies for Jeff and Jen. There might even be ones for Addie and Bennie.

But again, thank you. Our family is very lucky to be able to deal with the financial aspects of this. We know many others out there wouldn't be and couldn't imagine the strain if that was piled on top of what we already are enduring.