PARK COUNTY, Colo. — Park County personnel recovered the body of a missing veterinarian two days after she disappeared during an ATV ride in the Pike-San Isabel National Forest.
According to the nonprofit Justice Takes Flight, Shelley Ekstrom and her neighbor left their Conifer homes on ATVs on Tuesday. The nonprofit said the neighbor was found Wednesday and given medical attention, but Ekstrom was not located.
The Park County Coroner's Office said it received a call about a missing person and a fatal ATV crash in the Pike-San Isabel National Forest near the Park County and Teller County line on Wednesday. The Park County Sheriff's Office said teams from multiple agencies "navigated rivers, utilized ropes and safety equipment, and climbed steep terrain in an effort to locate the crash site."
A body was recovered on Thursday morning. The coroner's office determined that the body belonged to Ekstrom, 60, and she had died on Tuesday night.
Justice Takes Flight described Ekstrom as "a well-established veterinary doctor with many ties to the communities of Arvada and Conifer as well as out-of-state." According to its website, Ekstrom was a veterinarian at the Indian Tree Animal Hospital in Arvada.
This is the second fatal ATV crash in the past two months, according to the sheriff's office.
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