Colorado Parks and Wildlife recovers a body near the west boat ramp at John Martin State Park
Joey Livingston
HASTY, Colo. - Around 10 a.m. today, Colorado Parks and Wildlife (CPW) received a report of an abandoned truck and trailer near the west boat ramp at John Martin Reservoir State Park. What looked like a body was observed floating face down in the water nearby. CPW staff responded and recovered the body of a man before conducting sonar scans of the area to ensure there were no additional victims. The man was not wearing a life jacket.
John Martin State Park Manager Dan Kirmer offered sympathies to the victim’s family and friends.
“They have our deepest condolences,” Kirmer said. “It is awful to see a life lost so tragically.”
The body of the victim was turned over to the Bent County Coroner for identification and an official determination of the cause of death.
According to CPW’s unofficial tally of water-related fatalities, the state is on track to surpass the 2022 record of 42 deaths.
No additional information is available at this time.
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Colorado Parks and Wildlife (CPW) is an enterprise agency, relying primarily on license sales, state parks fees and registration fees to support its operations, including: 43 state parks and more than 350 wildlife areas covering approximately 900,000 acres, management of fishing and hunting, wildlife watching, camping, motorized and non-motorized trails, boating and outdoor education. CPW's work contributes approximately $6 billion in total economic impact annually throughout Colorado.