Colorado Parks and Wildlife’s water rescue team recovered a body in Rampart Reservoir west of Colorado Springs early Sunday. 

The discovery followed a late-night search initiated when a paddleboarder went missing in a wind event Saturday afternoon.

The Colorado Springs Fire Department (CSFD) responded to the initial call for help at Rampart after witnesses reported seeing a man fall into the reservoir and disappear. A dog that was on the paddleboard managed to initially stay on the board before eventually swimming to shore in the 62-degree water.

CSFD staff began an immediate search, including using a helicopter, before calling in CPW’s Marine Evidence Recovery Team (MERT), led by Grant Brown, CPW’s boating safety program manager. MERT officers use a specialized CPW boat equipped with multiple sonar devices including a submersible, remote-operated vehicle (ROV) equipped with sonar, lights and a video camera.

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Brown and CPW Rangers from Denver, Steamboat Springs and Walsenburg arrived around 7 p.m. and initiated a grid search on the water in the area where witnesses last saw the paddleboarder.

Rampart is a 500-acre reservoir owned by Colorado Springs Utilities located on the U.S. Forest Service’s Pike National Forest about 5 miles east of Woodland Park in far western El Paso County. The reservoir features unique underwater rock formations behind its 230-foot-tall dam.

At 1:00 a.m., a sonar towed in the water by the CPW boat located the victim in water about 67 feet deep. CPW Rangers used the ROV to confirm the body and recover it. That operation lasted until about 2:00 a.m. 

The El Paso County Coroner’s Office responded and took custody of the remains at about 4:30 a.m. The coroner will formally identify the victim, determine the cause of death and notify relatives.

“This is a tragedy and we offer our condolences to the family and friends of the victim,” Brown said. “We’ve experienced far too many water deaths in Colorado. We urge everyone on or near the water to please wear a life jacket. 

“When someone is plunged into such cold water, the shock from cold water immersion can cause your entire body to cramp leaving you unable to swim. You can die in one or two minutes.”

By CPW’s unofficial count, Colorado has experienced more than 30 recreational drownings in 2024.