Missing Dolores men found dead in their vehicle near Dunton Road

Missing Dolores men found dead in their vehicle near Dunton Road

Sept. 30, 2000

BY MATT GLECKMAN
Journal Staff Writer

An exhaustive week-long search came to a disheartening end shortly before noon on Friday when a Dolores County Search and Rescue team discovered two missing Dolores men dead in their vehicle.

"I am glad that the search is over, but it’s a tragic ending," said Dolores County Sheriff Jerry Martin late Friday afternoon.

"It’s been a day of mixed emotions."

According to Dolores County Sheriff’s Office reports, Van Nate Kitchens, 39, and his friend, 29-year-old Michael Fisher, died on impact when their 1979 Chevy Blazer slid over an embankment and down to the bottom of a ravine along the Dunton Road west of Dunton.

"The two men had apparently parked their vehicle too close to the edge of the road and the embankment gave way, causing the vehicle to slide over the edge and to the bottom of the ravine," Martin said.

Martin said that the estimated time of death was around 9:30 Saturday evening.

Early reports said that the two men were last seen in Dolores late Saturday afternoon equipped with food, gear and sleeping bags for a camping trip into the high country of the local San Juan Mountains.

They were reportedly planning to scout the area for big game for hunting season.

Kitchens, an employee of the Dolores School District, was reported missing when he failed to show up for work on Monday.

Kitchens and Fisher had been the focus of an intensive search effort by the Dolores County and Montezuma County search teams since the men were reported missing on Tuesday.

The victims were transported to Ertel Funeral Home in Cortez. Information on funeral arrangements was not available at press time.