Two men drowned at Eleven Mile Reservoir within nine days, and the newest death came Friday after a paddleboarder fell into the water and could not be saved.
Jen Plutt said the Friday victim was paddleboarding when he fell in, and good Samaritans rushed to help his friend get back to shore. Boats and dive teams searched for hours before recovering the man’s body Friday night. It was the second fatal incident at the reservoir in less than two weeks, a stretch short enough to show how quickly a day on the water can turn deadly.
The Park County Sheriff’s Office said the first drowning happened Aug. 6, when a 67-year-old man was kayaking and strong winds flipped him into the water. Bystanders pulled him out and CPR continued for about 30 minutes, but he was pronounced dead on scene. In the second case, the sheriff’s office said the victim was 28 years old. Neither man had been publicly identified.
The back-to-back deaths underline the same hard fact: help arrived fast in both incidents, and it still was not enough. People jumped in, CPR was started and rescue crews worked through difficult conditions, yet both men died. Officials said that is why the warning now is so blunt — wear a life jacket, stay sober, respect the weather and water, keep watch on one another, have a way to call for help and know your limits.
The reservoir is a popular place, but the latest deaths make clear that popularity does not make it safer. The sheriff’s office thanked Colorado Parks and Wildlife officers and Hartsel Fire Protection District firefighters and responders for moving quickly through both emergencies. For the families, the question left behind is not whether the danger was real. It is whether the next person on the water will treat it that way before conditions, or a single fall, decide the answer.
