Crime & Safety
Man Who Killed Illinois Tourist And Stole Van Gets 44 Years
Jeffrey Mason Maynard, 25, pleaded guilty to killing John "Pete" Cumby in a remote campground in Gilpin County.
GOLDEN, CO – A 25-year-old man was sentenced to prison for murdering an Illinois tourist in Sept. 2017, leaving his body in a remote campground in Gilpin County and stealing his van.
Jeffrey Mason Maynard appeared in Gilpin County District Court Friday, where he was sentenced to 44 years in prison for the murder of 62-year-old John H. “Pete” Cumby, Jr., of Rock Falls, Illinois, the Jefferson county District Attorney's Office said.
Around 9 a.m. Sep. 11, 2017, Maynard was stopped driving erratically on in Ada County, Idaho, at the wheel of a blue Plymouth van belonging to Cumby. Cumby's wallet with credit cards, his Social Security card, and his passport, along with camping equipment and clothing belonging to Cumby were found by sheriff's deputies in the van.
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Maynard, who had arrest warrants for arson and theft in Texas, not able to explain where Cumby was or why he was driving the van.
Investigators contacted family in Illinois who said Cumby had driven to the Rocky Mountains for a solo camping trip, but they had not heard from him since August 20 and he was overdue in returning.
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The Gilpin County Sheriff’s Office began to search for Cumby, with the help of the Colorado Bureau of Investigation (CBI), the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office, and the First Judicial District Attorney’s Office.
A GPS ping from Cumby's cell phone guided searchers to the area where Cumby’s body was found. His remains were discovered Sept. 13 with the help of cadaver-sniffing dogs in a remote camping area in Rollinsville, Gilpin County.
Cumby was a father of two and a grandfather of ten and great-grandfather of one, according to his obituary.
Maynard was extradited from Idaho to Gilpin County on Dec. 28, 2017. He filed a guilty plea on Sept. 21, 2018 to second-degree murder, identity theft and aggravated motor vehicle theft, the DA's office said.
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