Alcohol is suspected in a single-vehicle crash that killed a man earlier this week north of Durango.
The crash occurred late Monday or early Tuesday on the lower part of Missionary Ridge Road (County Road 253) but was not reported until Tuesday morning, according to the Colorado State Patrol.
Jeffrey Kern, 42, was pronounced dead at the scene about 9:50 a.m. Tuesday, according to the State Patrol.
Kern was described Wednesday as a “strong Christian” who enjoyed traveling with his wife, Sunshine. He enjoyed four-wheeling, golf, boating, hunting and gardening, said Suzette Collette, his mother-in-law, who was speaking on behalf of the family.
“He was a harmonious person. He loved his family, he was a prankster,” Collette said. “Jeffrey is a hard worker and the best in his trade, which is installing golf greens. Jeffrey was an awesome husband, a great brother, brother-in-law, son, uncle and friend. People leaned on him and he could be counted on.”
Kern was driving a GMC 3500 crew cab with a 30-foot goose-neck trailer carrying an off-road vehicle, said CSP Trooper Jonathan Silver.
Kern was coming down the mountain in the 900 block of Missionary Ridge Road when he failed to negotiate a left-hand curve and traveled off the right side of the road and down a steep embankment, according to an incident report.
“Speed was a factor in not being able to negotiate the curve, and then (he) went off the right side of the hill and rolled down the very steep embankment and came to rest on someone’s driveway there,” Silver said.
The people who live there reported hearing a noise in the middle of the night, but they weren’t sure what it was, he said. It wasn’t until the next morning when a homeowner went to take the trash out or check on the trash that he noticed the wrecked vehicle on the driveway, Silver said.
Troopers suspect alcohol was involved based on “the crash dynamics and also evidence that was found at the scene,” Silver said.
“Alcohol and driving is not a good combination,” Silver said. “It’s just fortunate that nobody else was hurt.”
It was not immediately known what Kern was doing in the Missionary Ridge area, but he apparently went up there a couple hours earlier and was returning about midnight when the crash occurred, Silver said.
Kern was apparently raised in the Durango area, moved to Texas at some point, but had moved back, Silver said.
He was the son of Ricky Kern, who worked as superintendent for many years at Hillcrest Golf Club. Jeffrey Kern in some respects followed in his father’s footsteps, starting his own company that designed and built private golf greens for athletes and professional golfers, according to his website for JEK Greens.
shane@durangoherald.com
