A 25-year-old rafter who drowned earlier this month in the Upper Animas River has been identified as Durango resident Sara Rosecrans.
San Juan County Coroner Keri Metzler confirmed the identity of the woman on Monday.
The incident remains under investigation by the Colorado Parks and Wildlife swiftwater investigation team, and no new information has been given about the accident, said CPW spokesman John Livingston.
“We haven’t closed our investigation yet. Right now, it is pending reports from the sheriff’s department and the county coroner,” he said. “Once we’re able to review those and our swiftwater investigator doesn’t have any follow up questions, he can go ahead and release that report.”
San Juan County spokeswoman DeAnne Gallegos said the Sheriff’s Office had not released any additional information as of Monday.
On June 10, Silverton Medical Rescue responded to a satellite emergency notification device alert about 1 p.m. on the Animas River near Tenmile Creek.
The incident involved two rafts carrying four people each who were rafting the Upper Animas River reach from Silverton to Rockwood.
Previously, San Juan County Sheriff Bruce Conrad said kayakers unaffiliated with the rafts came upon the location where Rosecrans had fallen into the water. The group and the seven passengers on the raft attempted to assist her.
The rescue team met the reporting party about 2:30 p.m. near the location where Tenmile Creek joins the Animas River. It was there that the team was able to locate the victim.
Lifesaving efforts were made by members of the rafting group before the rescue team’s arrival, but Rosecrans was deceased upon the rescue team’s arrival.
Metzler confirmed on June 13 that Rosecrans died as a result of drowning.
Rosecrans was a passenger on a Mild to Wild Rafting & Jeep Tours trip on the Upper Animas and worked for the company as a raft guide. Mild to Wild co-owner Alex Mickel told The Durango Herald on June 12 that Rosecrans was an experienced raft guide and was swiftwater certified. She had worked with the company for a little over a year.
Mickel said in an interview Monday that Rosecrans was an amazing young woman and that she loved being involved with outdoor pursuits, whether it was backcountry skiing or rafting.
“We were lucky that she chose to do them with us,” he said.
He added that her enthusiasm and positivity was contagious, touching everyone in the Mild to Wild community.
She also worked as a program assistant for Adaptive Sports Association and earned a degree in Outdoor Recreation and Education from Western Colorado University, according to Adaptive Sports’ website.
“It didn’t matter if you’ve met Sara for 10 minutes or knew her for 10 years, she had this really unique and special kind of magic quality,” said one of Rosecrans’ friends, Amanda Ravensbergen. “When you met her, she had these beautiful eyes that were constantly changing colors and this perfect smile with a very sweet voice, but she was also very powerful.”
Ravensbergen met Rosecrans while attending Western Colorado University. The two crossed paths because Ravensbergen worked with the university’s outdoor program Wilderness Pursuits and Rosecrans knew people affiliated with it.
“She seemed like a piece of Durango and a piece of the Southwest. It felt like she just belonged in the desert and in the river,” Ravensbergen said.
Rosecrans was well-known for her love of the outdoors and art. Ravensbergen said Rosecrans had never skied before moving to Gunnison but picked up the sport like nothing she’d seen before.
Another friend, Seth Trujillo, said Rosecrans had the ability to brighten anyone’s day within 60 seconds of speaking to that person. The two had dated for 4½ years and moved to Durango together a little over two years ago.
The two met when they worked together in the ski school at Crested Butte Mountain Resort.
He said she had multiple jobs while living in Crested Butte, including working at a local coffee shop, Adaptive Sports Association and various jobs at the ski resort.
“She was also a really incredible artist and did lots of painting and graphic illustrations,” Trujillo said.
He recalled a January rafting trip in Mexico where she crafted a crown for her friend’s birthday out of vines and flowers.
“Anything she did, she did with this creative spirit that was really unique to her,” he said.
A memorial service is scheduled for July 22 and 23; a location has not yet been decided.
tbrown@durangoherald.com
An earlier version of this story gave an incorrect age for Sara Rosecrans. Incorrect information was given to the Herald.
