A 30-year-old man from Grand Junction has been identified as the driver who went an estimated 750 feet off Red Mountain Pass on Thursday, requiring an extensive rescue effort and transport to a hospital by a helicopter.
Colorado State Patrol Trooper Gary Cutler said Mark Villegas was headed north Thursday morning on U.S. Highway 550, when about 2 miles from Ouray, he veered into the southbound lane, hit a road sign and went off the highway.
A spokeswoman with St. Mary’s Hospital in Grand Junction said Villegas was in “good condition” as of Friday afternoon.
According to reports, the vehicle went 750 feet down a steep embankment, overturning a couple times and coming to rest in a river. The crash happened near mile marker 89, just south of Ouray County Road 18 (Forest Service Road 878).
Calls to the Ouray County Sheriff’s Office were not immediately returned Friday morning.
In a post to social media, the Sheriff’s Office said Villegas spent hours in the vehicle before he was discovered.
“In what had to have been a grueling and terrifying event, (Villegas) spent hours yelling for help while he and his vehicle lay in the river hundreds of feet below the road,” the Sheriff’s Office wrote in a Facebook post.
The Sheriff’s Office said that luckily, a Colorado Department of Transportation driver came across the debris field and heard the cries for help. Attempts to reach the CDOT employee, Deck Klein, were not successful Friday morning.
The crash was reported to authorities about 9:45 a.m. Thursday, according to the State Patrol, kicking off a search and rescue mission that required crews to rappel down to the vehicle to retrieve Villegas, who was placed in a litter (stretcher) and roped up to road.
According to the State Patrol, Villegas was brought back to the road about 11:30 a.m. and was taken by helicopter to St. Mary’s Hospital.
Trooper Cutler said neither alcohol, drugs or excessive speed are believed to be factors in the crash, which remains under investigation.
“We’re not sure exactly why he went off the roadway there,” Cutler said.
CDOT spokeswoman Lisa Schwantes said previously traffic was only slightly impacted as a result of the crash. The vehicle, Cutler said, is likely to be recovered at a later date.
“They’re probably going to have to bring in a big tow truck to get it out of there,” he said.
jromeo@durangoherald.com
