Colorado State Patrol and Upper Pine Fire District responded to a fatal car crash east of Bayfield on Saturday that killed a driver and one passenger and resulted in a juvenile passenger being sent to Mercy Hospital.
CSP Trooper Hunter Mathews said the crash was reported to state patrol at 12:35 p.m. Saturday. A 25-year-old man and a 24-year-old woman were killed and a 5-year-old juvenile was transported to Mercy Hospital with minor injuries.
He said the victims’ next of kin have been notified and did not provide the victims’ names.
La Plata County Coroner Jann Smith did not immediately respond to a request for comment Saturday or Sunday.
Upper Pine Fire Chief Bruce Evans said it appeared the crash occurred more than a day ago, although it’s difficult to say when exactly it happened.
Evans said the vehicle – an older blue Chevrolet S-10 with New Mexico plates – was “completely totaled.” It was found on its top about 40 feet down an embankment off U.S. Highway 160 just outside town limits east of Bayfield.
“It went off on the south side of the highway, right before you get to County Road 526,” he said. “It was found down an embankment upside down, crushed.”
The juvenile sent to Mercy Hospital, a 5-year-old girl, was in “perfectly fine” condition, Evans said. He said she likely remained in the vehicle for nearly 30 hours before she was discovered.
The Chevy was difficult to spot from the highway – if the crash occurred at night or when nobody else was on the road, no one would know it happened, he said.
CSP is conducting an investigation into the crash. Mathews said it is too early to tell if drugs or alcohol are suspected factors in the crash. He also could not confirm whether the deceased driver and passenger were wearing seat belts at the time of the crash.No further information was available as of Sunday.
Evans said a couple who reported the crash first noticed it around 10 a.m. Friday. The husband decided to check on the crash site more closely Saturday and discovered the occupants.
“They just thought it was another crash or another piece of debris that had come off and gone down the hillside, and then the husband came back and checked on it this morning,” Evans said.
He said the child was not in a car seat or a booster seat at the time of the crash and was “very lucky.”
“It’s absolutely critical that people understand that your kid might get big enough to be out of a car seat, but there’s still height and weight requirements for them to be in a booster seat, and a lot of parents are not familiar with the requirements of a child to be in a booster seat versus into a car seat,” he said.
Evans said a Safe Kids four-day car seat installation and certification course is scheduled for June 1-4. The class will be held from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. at the La Plata County Fairgrounds Extension Hall at 2500 Main Ave.
The course will provide “knowledge and hands-on skills” to conduct car seat inspections and “educate caregivers on proper child restraint use and installation.,” the programming said.
Registration is online at cert.safekids.org and costs $95, with scholarships to cover the fee available from Car Seats Colorado, according to information provided by Evans.
A free car seat safety checkup was scheduled for 10 a.m. to noon Saturday in Cortez.
cburney@durangoherald.com
This article was updated to include information about an upcoming child passenger safety technician certification course.
