The last moments of Maximiano Vigil’s 83 years of life might always be a mystery because the only witness can’t speak.
It seems apparent to relatives, however, that either the retired railroad worker tried to save his daughter’s dog at an icy Arvada pond or the other way around.
The two had become regular walking pals, said Vigil’s brother, Frank Vigil, 79.
“Almost every day he would go out with the dog,” Frank Vigil said.
About 3:30 p.m. Wednesday, Maximiano Vigil was submerged when a woman noticed a white and black dog floundering on ice at a pond near 51st and Garrison Street.
It wasn’t until an animal control officer pulled the dog from the ice with a catch pole that firefighters saw a baseball cap in the water.
They pulled Maximiano Vigil out and performed CPR. He was taken to a hospital where he was pronounced dead.
How he ended up in the water might never be known, said Susan Medina, Arvada police spokeswoman. It could be that the dog, which police say was a husky, went out on the ice and he tried to bring him in.
Or possibly Vigil slid down an embankment and plunged through ice, and the dog went after him.
Frank Vigil said he was sad to see the last of his three brothers and three sisters die. The large family grew up in the San Luis Valley in southern Colorado.
“He was an easy-going guy,” Frank Vigil said.
Walking was a big part of his day, he said.
Kirk Mitchell: 303-954-1206 or kmitchell@denverpost.com
