A long-time sheriff’s deputy in southwestern Colorado died while on a snowmobile outing on his day off from work.
Hollis Holland, 57, a deputy with the La Plata County Sheriff’s Office for 19 years, went snowmobiling Wednesday in the Molas Pass area south of Silverton and failed to return home.
His wife, Patricia, reported him overdue and searchers found his body near his snowmobile last night southeast of the Molas Pass summit, according to a sheriff’s office media release.
A medical helicopter pilot and crew, out of Farmington, N.M., spotted the body and helped lead ground crews to that spot.
The search crew was able to act quickly and transport Holland’s body off of the mountain just before a snow storm moved in, the sheriff’s office said.
Holland received numerous awards during his career, including a Badge of Merit in 2002 for the arrest of a person who was intentionally starting fires while firefighters were battling the wild Missionary Ridge Fire. He was awarded a second Badge of Merit in 2010 for rescuing a woman from a house fire.
Holland and his wife moved to southwestern Colorado in the 1970s and he worked in a Silverton mine. He was a San Juan County Search & Rescue leader for 10 years, a member of the Silverton Avalanche School in the 1980s, and he participated in a program that put deputies on the slopes of Durango Mountain and Purgatory ski areas.
Holland also filled in for Santa Claus in San Juan and La Plata counties when St. Nick was busy elsewhere.
Holland is survived by his wife, two sons; and two grandchildren.
Kieran Nicholson: 303-954-1822 or knicholson@denverpost.com
