Colorado Springs Gazette, Cassondra Cloos June 30
An Air Force Academy professor missing for two days after a hike in Chaffee County has been found injured but alive, the Academy said just after 4 p.m. Tuesday.
Lt. Col. Dave Richie, 43, was “injured, but talkative,” spokesman John Van Winkle said. Richie was on a cliff and a helicopter was summoned to airlift him to safety.
Richie is an astronautics professor and was supposed to go on a hike with his department on Monday, but didn’t show. The Air Force Academy sent a press release Tuesday afternoon saying his car had been found earlier in the day at a trailhead for Mt. Shavano, northwest of Salida in Chaffee County. The Academy is grateful to the rescuers who located him, Van Winkle said.
“We thank them so much for getting our guy home safe,” he said.
