CONEJOS COUNTY — On Saturday, Sept. 7, at approximately 5 p.m., the Conejos County Sheriff’s Office was notified of a lost hunter in the Osier Mountain area. Sheriff Garth Crowther responded to the area and met up with family members of the lost party who were camped in the area where the individual became lost.
Crowther was told that Luis Pacheco, 64, of Alamosa, was hunting in the area and was last seen around 9 a.m. on Sept. 7.
His hunting party had attempted to find him, but they were unsuccessful. Sheriff Crowther and deputies covered the area by road well into the night. Due to the late notification and darkness, arrangements were made to gather a search and rescue team and resume at daybreak on the morning of Sept. 8.
Early Sunday morning, Sheriff Crowther, his deputies, and a multitude of civilian volunteers, along with volunteers from local fire departments, a Flight for Life helicopter, an airplane from Colorado State Fire, a tracking dog from Alamosa County Sheriff’s Office, and search and rescue teams from Mineral and Saguache counties with drone capabilities, all responded to the area.
A command post was established, and personnel were organized into search lines to cover the area where Pacheco was last seen. After a full day of searching, the operation was temporarily halted, with plans to resume early Monday morning.
Late Sunday night, a tip was phoned in by an individual who had been hunting in the same area on Saturday when Pacheco went missing. The hunter was made aware of the search from a media post and immediately called in to report the sighting. Monday morning, deputie attained a GPS location of the sighting from the hunter, and a team from Search and Rescue Dogs of Colorado was dropped into the area.
At approximately 11:30 Monday morning, while all the teams were out looking, the command post received a call from personnel at the Osier Station. The caller stated that an individual matching Pacheco had walked up and told them he had been lost. Rescue personnel responded immediately and confirmed that it was Pacheco. An ambulance crew responded to the scene and gave aid to Pacheco who was cold, hungry and tired, but otherwise in relatively good shape. He was then reunited with his family and friends.
The Conejos County Sheriff’s Office would like to thank all those who helped in the search. The response for help was overwhelming and reflects the great community we live in.
