30 years ago – March 2, 1984
“Frustrating” was the word used to describe the manhunt conducted by Gilpin County Search and Rescue Sunday. Commander Joan Taylor said the call which sent searchers out in the midst of a snowstorm might have been a prank. A man in Rocky Flats picked up a transmission on his CB from a man who said his friend had fallen while they were ice climbing. The man said they had left their vehicle, a blue four-wheel-drive pick-up parked near the Golden Slipper Mine about five miles west of Rollinsville. Then they had hiked on foot for about an hour and a half. The man who heard the radio message drove over to Gilpin County to alert authorities. He was unsuccessful in making further contact with the caller and no one else was able to reach him either. Taylor said about 10 people were called out for the search. They did not find the truck at the given location. Another blue pick-up was found by the Mammoth Road, and contact was made with the owners. They were not connected with the missing parties. The search began around 2 p.m. and was called off that evening around 7:30. Hospital emergency rooms were checked to see if the men showed up for treatment anywhere, and law enforcement agencies were checked for reports of missing persons, but not further information surfaced. The man might not have been hurt as badly as his friend thought and the pair could have left the area on their own, or the caller might just have been “way off” on the location. Or it just might have been a hoax to begin with, Taylor said.
Central City summer traffic could be more complicated than usual this year if Henry Schoo receives final approval for his mining operation. Schoo, president of Grasslakes Mineral and Mining, Inc., plans to take material from Gilpin County mine dumps and truck it to a Clear Creek County site for a cyanide heap-leach process. He has applied for special use permits from Gilpin County for six sites in the Nevadaville and Russell Gulch areas. The dump material would be hauled through Central City and Black Hawk. Commission member Lee John Droege expressed concern about the traffic, saying that statistically it would be very possible to have an accident during the busy tourist season. He does not want to see a truck get loose on the Nevadaville road and then hit the Central City area. He asked if Schoo could do the hauling in off-hours. Schoo does not want to work at night. He must monitor the grade of ore he is taking and that cannot be done in the dark.
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