30 years ago – October 6, 1989
Dumping trash down an open mine shaft may seem a handy and convenient practice, but that isn’t always the case. Gilpin County’s mine rescue team spent part of the last two weekends determining that a shaft on Alps Hill held not a body, but trash. It allstarted Sunday, September 17, when Tom Monaco of Conifer smelled smoke.Monaco, who owns property in Russell Gulch on the side of Alps Hill, walked up to investigate. Toward the top of the hill he saw a woman’s coat caught on the edge of a mine shaft. Two tire tracks led to the edge of the shaft. Search and Rescue was summoned after a sheriff’s deputy examined the site. Although no body was visible, something blue could be seen about 40 feet down, caught on a ledge. If a body had been thrown into the shaft, it could have bounced into a side drift after hitting the bottom. Last Saturday, at 2 p.m., Search and Rescue went up Alps Hill to determine what was in the shaft. Because no one was immediately available to operate the boom truck and safety cage, van Cullar and Steve Yanchunis took 70 feet of ladder up to the shaft. Distances down a shaft can be deceiving, and the ladder was about 80 feet short of the bottom. The shaft, which Cullar and Yanchunis had estimated to be 50 feet deep, was closer to 150 feet deep. So the ladder had to be taken back to the Polar Star Mill and the boom truck brought out. By this time a boom truck operator was located, and the truck was brought up through Nevadaville and across Alps Hill to the site. The truck was maneuvered close enough to the shaft so the cage could be lowered. It required precise positioning because the timbered opening was not much wider than the cage. Because the shaft had a six or seven degree dip, the cage, with Cullar and Yanchunis inside, had to slide down the timber for 20 feet. It then slid the rest on the foot wall. This meant the men had to watch for debris and rock that the cable might knock loose. Though only two men, Cullar and Yanchunis, went down the shaft, team members on the surface all had jobs to do. Then around 6 p.m., the team determined that it was a trash dump they were investigating, not a body disposal. Household trash, clothing, and construction materials were found at the bottom of the shaft. Foul play had been considered a possibility because, in the past when a body has been dropped down a shaft, the victim’s personal belongings have often been disposed of at the same time. The coat caught on the edge of the shaft was suspicious enough to call for an investigation. Since the equipment was already in place, rescue workers held a practice session. The team headed down the hill at about 8 p.m. While everyone was pleased that nothing more serious was found, no one is ever thrilled to spend a Saturday afternoon checking out a trash dump.
60 years ago – October 16, 1959
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