Brief by Martha Quillen
Regional Briefs – February 2003 – Colorado Central Magazine
Alamosa Police Investigate Murder/Suicide
An Alamosa woman, Alison Phillips, 27, reportedly killed herself and her three-year-old daughter by intentionally driving off of Wolf Creek Pass on January 2. The woman’s two young sons and 16-year-old cousin, who were also in the car, survived the plunge.
The Denver media subsequently recounted the harrowing odyssey of Roxanna Vega, the injured teen who managed to climb a steep, snow-covered 160-foot embankment with a broken arm, ankle, and back to get help for her cousins, Christopher Large 4, and Carlos, 8.
The family spent a cold night on the mountain before Vega climbed for help, and the slope she had to negotiate was so sheer, rescue workers rappelled to the scene. Alison and Kayla Phillips died before rescuers reached them. Carlos suffered a broken jaw; his brother sustained minor injuries; and Vega’s small dog also died. After the crash, Carlos told police that his mother had said that they would soon see Jesus.
Now, an attorney representing the woman’s husband, Chad Phillips, and his parents, claims that this tragedy could have been prevented by Alamosa authorities. According to the Phillips’s attorney, the police responded inappropriately to an earlier domestic dispute. On New Year’s Day, Chad Phillips took his three-year-old daughter to his parents’ home, and told police that his wife had attacked him. He and his parents also informed officers that the children weren’t safe with their mother, Alison Phillips, who suffered from a bipolar disorder and had recently stopped taking medication for her illness.
The police, however, took Kayla from her grandparents’ home to Tu Casa, a domestic-violence shelter, and later she was returned to her mother. According to Tu Casa, the police determine where children will go; they don’t. And according to a Social Service spokesman, their department only intervenes upon police request. Chad Phillips, however, maintains that the authorities failed to protect his wife and child.
The circumstances leading up to the tragedy are still under investigation.
Rape Stuns Crestone
Peace, quiet and serenity in the ordinarily tranquil Crestone Community were shattered this holiday season by a sexual assault. On December 8, a man kicked in the door of a home on the Baca and assaulted a woman and child. Now, early leads, which appeared to have indicated certain suspects, have fizzled, but the Colorado Bureau of Investigation is examining items recovered from the home. Anyone with information is asked to contact the Saguache County Sheriff’s Department at 719-655-2544.
Dogs Disturb Leadville
This fall, Leadville dogs gleaned a lot of media attention due to two stories. First, a deputy sheriff shot but failed to kill a local dog. Then Channel Nine News filmed Ruben Pacheco’s pit bulls.
In December, however, media coverage dwindled, but Leadville’s dog problems did not. On December 11, one of Pacheco’s remaining pit bulls attacked a neighbor’s Shih-tzu, named Benjie, then charged Benjie’s owner and Deputy Sheriff Amy Neal; whereupon Neal shot the dog, which was subsequently taken to an animal hospital. Benjie was also taken to the vet, but could not be saved, and Pacheco was cited for having a vicious animal at large.
Then, less than a week later, a chow mix attacked a Leadville mail carrier from behind; thus the carrier never even saw the dog coming. On December 16, the mail carrier sustained three puncture wounds, and was treated with antibiotics, whereupon it was decided that carrying protective spray could not always offer adequate protection for postal workers. Therefore, the Leadville Post Office now requires that all dogs be leashed or contained for the safety of mail carriers.
As of December 19, if a Leadville dog is loose the homeowner will be notified, once. Then, if there is still a loose dog at a residence, the homeowner will be required to purchase a post office box for mail delivery.
Saguache Dances
to a Different Beat
When we were in Saguache for last year’s Memorial Day Celebration, we were astounded to hear the pounding of West African drums. Apparently, African drumming classes were offered in Saguache last February, then an African Drumming Group was formed, then African Dance workshops were offered, and people started gathering formally and informally to practice drumming and dancing, until many Saguache residents could drum better than most of us could do the Macarena.
By the time we arrived in Saguache last May, everyone seemed to be swaying to an exotic West African beat. And now Brazilian Samba drum and dance workshops are being offered in the Saguache Community Building….
Study Reveals
the Totally Expected
A Site Characterization Report about metal concentrations in the Upper Arkansas watershed shows that the first eleven miles of the river below California Gulch are still not healthy for fish or the micro-critters and plants they eat. But even so, some forms of aquatic life that are sensitive to high metal concentrations seem to have increased.
According to a story in the Leadville Herald Democrat, on January 2, the report was prepared by a team of consultants from the Colorado Natural Resource Trustee, Resurrection Mining Company, ASARCO, and the Feds, and it will be available at local libraries for review.
Apparently public commentary is welcome until January 31. But as of January 8, the Salida Library still didn’t have a copy of the report. Library director Jeff Donlan, however, assured us that he will be looking for one.
Fire Rages
In Gunnison
[Cattlemen Fire, photo by Chris Dickey, Gunnison Country Times]
A fire destroyed the Cattlemen Inn in Gunnison on Monday, January 6. The well-known restaurant and bar was one of the last local institutions to sustain the old-fashioned tradition of serving huge slabs of cholesterol-laden red meat in a dimly lit downstairs bar redolent with cigarette smoke. Whether owners will move, rebuild, or retire remains unclear at press-time, but the old Cattlemen — where large groups could still meet for quiet conversation — will definitely be missed during next year’s Headwaters Conference.
And Howard
A fiery conflagration in Howard on December 16, came to a sad but fairly fortuitous conclusion — even though four outbuildings, two boats, and numerous vehicles were consumed by the blaze. Firefighters managed to save a nearby residence, however, despite flames which shot forty feet into the night sky as fuel and ammo housed in the burning buildings ignited.
Dale Reed and his girlfriend, residents of the home, fought the fire until help arrived, then were treated for smoke inhalation, but both escaped serious injury. The Howard Volunteer Fire Department, Frémont County Sheriff, Salida Fire Department, Chaffee County Fire Protection District, Frémont County Road and Bridge Department, and Arkansas Valley Ambulance all responded to the call.
And Saguache
The home of Dean Coombs, editor and publisher of the Saguache Crescent, was ravaged by fire on January 8.
And in this season when wood stoves, chimneys, furnaces, and gas stoves are working overtime, Coombs home was assuredly not the only casualty in our region. We urge everyone to be careful; to check stoves, ash buckets, chimneys, smoke detectors, furnace vents, insurance coverage, and escape routes frequently, because even if “April is the cruelest month,” winter is the meanest season; or as Thomas Nashe put it: “From winter, plague and pestilence, good Lord, deliver us!”
Our best wishes to Dean. (We were exceedingly glad to hear that you were fine.)
More Lynx Come
On December 31, the Colorado Division of Wildlife announced that four more Canada Lynx have arrived in Colorado. The four cats, captured in Quebec earlier in the month, arrived in Denver aboard an Air Canada jet, but will be held in captivity for three months before their release to ensure that they are in maximum health.
More lynx are expected to arrive this winter, but at this time “it’s unclear whether we’ll receive all 50 lynx we’ve asked for,” according to Scott Wait, a DOW biologist in Durango.
“We’ve established four of the seven criteria in Colorado for establishing a viable population of lynx,” said Tanya Shenk, a lynx researcher, including: “developing successful release protocols, having lynx survive for extended periods in the wild, having lynx establish territories, and the onset of breeding behavior.”
But to date, no lynx have successfully reproduced. Wildlife biologists think the most likely reason is simply that there aren’t enough lynx to establish a viable population, however, and thus hope more lynx will resolve the problem.
