Cliff-Jumper Dies At Colorado State Wildlife Area

SPRINGFIELD, CO — A cliff-diver died after jumping into a pond Friday evening at a reservoir in southeastern Colorado.

Friends and family watched the man jump into Black Hole pond below Two Buttes Reservoir. Two Buttes Reservoir State Wildlife Area is about 40 miles south of Lamar in Baca County.

The man resurfaced for a few seconds, then went back underwater and never re-emerged, Colorado Parks and Wildlife said in a news release Saturday.

Wildlife officers and sheriff's confirmed the man was in the water, and wildlife officers began searching for him using a boat and sonar to scan the water.

The search broadened Saturday morning and water rescuers brought in from Littleton took over using a boat and submersible remote-operated vehicle equipped with sonar, lights and a video camera. Early Saturday afternoon, the team found his body.

The coroner's office will determine how he died and identify the man.

“This is a tragedy and we offer our condolences to the family and friends of the victim,” Todd Marriott, area wildlife manager for the Lamar region, said in a statement. “Unfortunately, it’s not uncommon for people to be injured jumping from the cliffs into the Black Hole. And it’s another example why we urge everyone to wear life jackets when in or near the water.”

Colorado has recorded 30 water-related deaths and 27 drownings this year. Earlier this month, two people died when a camping trailer was washed away in the Crystal Mountain flash flood in Larimer County.

If the man's death is confirmed as a drowning, it would mark the 26th recreation-related drowning this year.

Colorado experienced its worst year on the water in 2020 when 34 people drowned. Colorado is on pace to surpass that number in 2022.

The Two Buttes Reservoir was built over four years ending in 1914 with horse, mule and hand labor. Colorado Parks and Wildlife bought the dam in 1970.

The reservoir and the land around it are part of the Two Buttes Reservoir State Wildlife Area, where people can hunt, fish and boat when the reservoir holds water. It is intermittently dry due to inconsistent rain patterns.