Diana Robles & Ofelia Figueroa-Perez, Yuma, Arizona nurses and hired driver, Don Fehd, killed when their jeep plunges off a Colorado cliff during road trip.
Three people were killed during an off-roading tour of Colorado’s San Juan Mountains when their Jeep plunged hundreds of feet off a cliff earlier this week. The incident occurred moments after one of the victims took a photo of herself amid the expansive range and sharing it with friends.
Arizona tourists Diana Robles, 28, Ofelia Figueroa-Perez, 60, both of Yuma and hired driver Don Fehd, 72, were all killed on Monday when their 2022 Jeep Gladiator drifted off the edge of Ouray County Road 361 (also known as Camp Bird Road) and landed hundreds of feet below, according to the Montrose Daily Press.
The vehicle first fell 100 feet to the bottom of a cliff, according to police. It then rolled about 140 feet down a rocky embankment, ejecting Fehd, officials said. The bodies of the two sightseers were found in the car, which rested on its roof near the bank of a creek, police said.
Before the crash, Robles, had reportedly just taken a picture of the iconic Imogene Pass, a ‘thrilling’ trail that is the second-highest drivable pass in Colorado, according to AllTrails.
Concern for the woman’s well being came after the photo which had been shared with some of Robles friends failed to generate a response from the sender.
4th of July with the #drone up Camp Bird Rd in #Ouray #Colorado#dji #mavic #dronevideo #aerial #aerialphotography #drones #dronephotography #exploring #mountains #aerial #VIDEO #flying pic.twitter.com/3seJ5lxIhg
— Drone (@DropZoneDrone1) July 31, 2019
Disbelief
Robles and Figueroa-Perez, who were niece and aunt and both worked as nurses at Yuma Regional Medical Center, had gone to the Colorado mountains for a getaway.
‘We are in a loss for words and in disbelief,’ Diana Figueroa a relative of one of the two nurses wrote on Facebook.
Adding: ‘We know they are in the merciful hands of our Lord as they themselves being nurses had healing hands in every life they touched’.
Fehd worked at Colorado West Jeep Rentals and Tours, where he was known for his ‘quirky, genuine way’ with his passengers, according to the Ouray County Plaindealer.
Final photo then nothing…
Ouray County Coroner Colleen Hollenbeck said Robles intended to call a friend to talk about the trip after snapping a picture on the trail, but that call never came.
Instead, the friend called around frantically and then saw social media posts about the crash, which eventually led to her calling and finding out about the deaths from Hollenbeck.
According to the State Patrol Trooper Josh Lewis, alcohol, drugs, weather, and speed were not suspected factors in the incident, with both customers wearing their seatbelts.
Monday’s accident marked the second deadly crash in the area in just a week. On Sept. 5, an Arizona man was killed and his wife was injured when their ATV rolled hundreds of feet near Imogene Pass, the Daily Press reported.
