Peterson Lake – Where are Terry and Marion Jones?
The question baffled search crews and friends of the Fort Collins couple, described as experienced in the outdoors, for a second day Wednesday as they combed the rugged trails north of Rocky Mountain National Park where the couple disappeared over the weekend.
Searchers found no clues in the disappearance of Terry, 56, or Marion, 49. A helicopter assisting in the search spied nothing. Dog teams brought in to sniff for tracks found none.
“It’s surprising and kind of strange,” said a friend of the Joneses who was assisting in the search but didn’t want to be identified. “It doesn’t make sense. He’s an experienced hunter and outdoorsman who knows what he’s doing.”
Saturday morning, the Jones’ son dropped his parents off at the Chapin Pass trailhead, located near the high point of Trail Ridge Road in Rocky Mountain National Park, said park spokeswoman Kyle Patterson. The couple’s plan was to follow the Cache la Poudre River Trail north until it connected with the Big South Trail and camp overnight along the way. They would then follow the Big South Trail north to the trailhead along Colorado 14, where their car was found parked Monday night.
But when the couple hadn’t returned home by Monday evening, family members became worried and called police. Officials shifted their search area out of Rocky Mountain National Park on Wednesday after receiving a call from a person who said he saw the couple near Peterson Lake about 5:30 p.m. Sunday.
Larimer County sheriff’s spokeswoman Eloise Campanella said the couple was seen on the River Stretch Trail, which is a rough section of trail near the lake. Peterson Lake is about six miles from the trailhead.
John Hodge, a host at a nearby campground, said the area can be unforgiving.
“It’s very rugged if you get into timber up there,” Hodge said. “And if you get off the trail and into some downed timber, it’s really rough to get out of.”
Friends and family members planned to sleep in their cars overnight at several trailheads – with their lights on – in case the Joneses walked out.
Today, officials hope to expand the search by bringing in more dog teams, teams on horseback and all-terrain vehicles and maybe a search plane.
The search is in the same area where 3-year-old Jaryd Atadero disappeared in October 1999 while hiking along the Big South Trail. Hikers later found some of Atadero’s clothing in tatters atop a steep ridge. Officials had speculated the boy was snatched by a mountain lion.
Hodge, the campground host, said he has seen mountain lions in the area but thinks something else is responsible for the couple’s disappearance.
“I think one is sick or hurt, maybe with a sprained ankle or a turned knee,” he said.
Meanwhile, in Fort Collins, friends of the couple watched the news closely. Terry works as an insurance agent in town.
Marion served as the president of the Poudre Landmarks Foundation and worked extensively on turning one of the area’s first adobe homes into the Museo de las Tres Colonias, said Tom Boardman, the foundation’s president.
“They are just great people,” Boardman said. “We are devastated.”
Staff writer John Ingold can be reached at 720-929-0898 or jingold@denverpost.com.
