A couple camping on Memorial Day near Kremmling made a gruesome discovery when their dog retrieved a size 10 1/2 hiking boot with a human foot inside it.
Authorities believe the remains might be those of a Pueblo man missing since the plane he was in went down last year in the area.
“Some folks were out camping, enjoying their Memorial Day, when their dog retrieves a boot,” Grand County Coroner Dave Schoenfeld said. “Unfortunately, what was inside the boot was a foot. Obviously, they were really freaked out.”
Authorities say the brown leather boot is similar to the description of clothing worn by William Duffy, 77, who was in the single-engine plane with his friend, Claiborne Courtright, 81.
The men’s plane went down about 5 miles from where the foot was found, Sheriff Rod Johnson said Wednesday.
“There’s still some work we have to do before we’re positive,” Johnson said.
No other remains were found. Authorities are hoping that X-rays of Duffy taken before his death will help determine whether the foot was his.
“We searched that area for a couple of hours around the scene and found other remnants of the airplane crash, 5 miles away from where we found the plane,” Johnson said. “The Green Mountain Reservoir was spilled a few weeks ago, which raised the Colorado River up 8 or 10 feet. That might explain how the boot and everything else ended up there.”
The couple had set up camp near a trail just outside of Radium, a short distance from some hot springs in Gore Canyon, authorities said.
The dog, described as a German shepherd mix, found the boot Monday morning and authorities were alerted about 10:26 a.m., Johnson said. The campers led searchers back to the site three hours later.
Schoenfeld said there’s no telling how the foot was dislodged from the rest of the body.
The Piper Tri-Pacer plane disappeared in April 2005 and wasn’t found until August near Kremmling.
Duffy, a retired insurance executive, and longtime friend Courtright, a retired dermatologist, had taken many leisurely flights through the mountains before they disappeared.
The men, both from Pueblo, embarked from Fremont County Airport in Cañon City and were last heard from after refueling in Kremmling.
Courtright’s body was located near the crash site, Schoenfeld said. Searchers found no trace of Duffy.
The fuselage of the plane was found intact and hanging upside down in trees off a cliff about 1,000 feet over the river, Johnson said.
Johnson speculated that the plane couldn’t make it over McClure’s Point and crashed into the cliff.
Staff writer Manny Gonzales can be reached at 303-820-1537 or mgonzales@denverpost.com.
