Suspicious packages and threatening notes left at two Aspen banks cleared out downtown on one of this legendary party town’s most festive nights.
A package with a note was discovered about 2:30 p.m. Wednesday at Wells Fargo branch at 119 S. Mill St. Minutes later similar packages showed up at the Vectra Colorado branch at 534 E. Hyman Ave.
The Aspen Police Department said the packages came with “a note (that) indicated a credible threat to the community.”
Authorities hadn’t said by 11 p.m. what was inside the packages. They were wrapped in Christmas paper and had pizza boxes underneath them, said Officer Stephanie Dasaro.
Surveillance pictures got a clear image of an older man leaving the packages.
At a 10:30 p.m. news conference, authorities said they are looking for 71-year-old Jim Blanning but would not say where he is from.
Anyone with information can call 970-429-1830.
Some people went to evacuation centers set up at schools, but most visitors were holed up in hotels outside the evacuated 16-block area, said Aspen resident Bridgett Bowers, who lives about five blocks outside the evacuation zone.
Witnesses said the evacuation zone stretched from Original Street on the east to Monarch Street on the west, and from Main Street on the north to Cooper Street on the south.
“It started as something small, and now they’ve cordoned off pretty much all of downtown,” Bowers said about 8 p.m.
She said people are “pretty freaked out” and dismayed about the lack of information from local authorities.
“It’s pretty frightening because it just keeps going on and on and nobody is saying what’s really going on,” she said. “Everybody I’ve talked to is pretty scared.”
Regardless of the outcome of investigations and searches, Aspen’s expensive clubs and restaurants stand to lose a lot of money.
Venues in the fashionable city are typically packed on New Year’s Eve with wealthy and sometimes famous tourists and residents.
Tens of thousands turn out each year for the fireworks over Aspen Mountain and the annual bonfire in Wagner Park.
Johnathan Dean, a front desk employee, said Aspen Square Condominium Hotel, just outside the zone, was filled with disappointed holiday visitors, but they were getting takeout from outlying restaurants or food from the town’s City Market.
“This is going to cost millions of dollars to Aspen,” he said. “Every restaurant in town was booked; parties everywhere were canceled.”
Joey Bunch: 303-954-1174 or jbunch@denverpost.com
