Aurora father found dead in creek by hikers on trail

Hikers on a Chaffee County trail this week found an Aurora man dead in a creek, according to the sheriff’s office.

Chaffee County deputies responded about 4 p.m. Tuesday to reports of a body found on the Agnes Vaille Falls trail off of County Road 162, according to a post on social media from the sheriff’s office. The hikers told deputies they found the man face down in a creek near the waterfall, about half a mile up the trail, sheriff’s officials said.

The man, 38-year-old Ronald Eugene Stamm of Aurora, had hiked the trail with his wife and daughter, sheriff’s officials said.

After the family arrived at the waterfall, Stamm wanted to keep hiking, and his wife and daughter headed back to the trailhead, according to the post.

When deputies arrived, the wife and child were still waiting for Stamm at the trailhead. Investigators believe Stamm tried to climb a cliff face near the waterfall without any safety equipment, lost his grip and fell more than 100 feet to the creek below.

Semitrailer crash closes I-25 for more than 11 hours

Interstate 25 reopened in both directions at 2:26 p.m. Thursday, State Patrol spokesman Gabriel Moltrer said.

The highway was closed for more than 11 hours Thursday between northbound exit 243 for Mead and southbound exit 250 for Berthoud, State Patrol officials said.

A semitrailer carrying office supplies was driving south on I-25 near milepost 247 when it traveled to the right side of the highway, hit a barrier, swerved back across the road and hit the median, State Patrol officials said.

The semitrailer then continued into the northbound lanes, struck another semitrailer carrying gasoline and rolled onto its side, blocking both directions of I-25, according to the release.

The crash happened just after 3:15 a.m., the State Patrol said.

FAA ground delay affects hundreds of flights at DIA

More than 200 flights headed in and out of Denver International Airport were delayed, and one was canceled Thursday after the Federal Aviation Administration issued a ground delay.

The FAA issued the DIA ground delay at 8 a.m. for “low ceilings,” which refers to the lowest level of cloud cover.

Flights headed into DIA were being delayed an average of 36 minutes during the hour and a half the ground delay was active, according to federal officials. Those delays caused other flights headed out of DIA to leave the gate late.

— Lauren Penington, The Denver Post