Red Mountain Pass reopened about 3 p.m. Thursday with the recovery of a vehicle with a body inside from a steep ravine two miles south of Ouray.
The white Cadillac Escalade contained the corpse of a Danish man reported missing since Feb. 4, a spokeswoman for the Ouray Sheriff’s Office said.
Jin Benny Junge, 26, had been visiting the United States with friends, but he stayed when they returned.
The pass was closed for most of the day Wednesday while a crew with a crane tried unsuccessfully to hoist the car to the highway.
The Escalade was located in the bed of the Uncompahgre River by a search team, said Ouray County spokesman Marti Whitmore. She said the car was equipped with a GPS system.
The car left the road into steep terrain at a point on Highway 550 known as Sullivan’s Gulch. The car was more than 400 feet below the highway.
The highway was closed from 9 a.m. to about 3 p.m. Thursday.
The Ouray County Sheriff’s Office brought a huge wrecker Thursday from Grand Junction to pull the Cadillac to a point it could be reached with a crane.
The Colorado Department of Transportation urged motorists Wednesday to travel early or find an alternate route over Red Mountain Pass because the 9 a.m. closure of U.S. Highway 550 could last for an extended period.
In asking for publicity last week about the missing Junge, a sheriff’s spokesman said it wasn’t certain if he actually had visited Ouray.
A call from his brother said he had talked of the region.
Whitmore said sheriff’s investigators are expected to continue their investigation Friday and next week. No further road closures are expected.
daler@durangoherald.com
