Alpine Bank of Colorado employees had reason to worry when three Durango branch workers and a spouse didn’t show up after a planned flight to a holiday party in Snowmass Village Saturday night.
“In Colorado, with 14,000-foot peaks and snowy weather, you have to worry when a plane is missing,” Alpine Bank president Glen Jammaron said this afternoon.
Steve Osborne, 59, was flying his wife, Jan, 50, and two of her workers, Tyler Black, 24, and 26-year-old Gena Rych, aboard his single-engine Socota TB-21 aircraft.
All four died when the plane crashed into a mountainside about 20 miles north of Silverton, according to the the San Juan County Sheriff’s Department.
The bodies of Black and Rych have been recovered in the snow and wooded terrain. The mile-long debris field left no hope that anyone could have survived the crash, according to the Federal Aviation Administration.
The San Juan County Sheriff’s Department said flying conditions were poor because of a heavy snowstorm Saturday afternoon.
The crash site is in a rugged area of steep canyons, dense forest and peaks over 13,000 feet, the Sheriff’s Department stated. Small pieces of debris were found near San Juan County Road 110 near the Soda Creek drainage.
Jammaron was at the Durango branch today to console employees.
He said all three were long-time employees and well-known in the community.
“If you were here today, you’d understand what this means,” he said. “People have been coming in all day sharing condolences and comforting one another.”
He said all three had great personalities and made customers and coworkers feel appreciated.
“They weren’t employees; they were part of a family here,” Jammaron said.
Donations to a memorial fund can be made at any Alpine Bank location.
Joey Bunch: 303-954-1174 or jbunch@denverpost.com
