Missing rafter from 2024 found in Colorado River a year later

The Grand County Sheriff's Office announced on Wednesday that a missing rafter from 2024 has been found in the Colorado River.

On June 1, 2024 at 3:40 p.m., the Grand County Communications Center received a text to 911 reporting a person was not breathing on the Colorado River in Gore Canyon, which is southwest of Kremmling, according to a media release.

Multiple agencies initially responded to the area due to the report being on the Grand/Eagle County line. Further reports from the scene received by a Garmin device reported that there had been a rafting accident and that a bystander was performing CPR on a man who was later pronounced deceased by EMS workers, the release says.

Additionally, there was another man who was still missing following the accident after the raft capsized, according to the sheriff's office. Emergency responders used rafts, ground crews, drones and a Union Pacific Railroad Hi-Rail to search the river and surrounding area for the missing person, the release says. Crews were unable to find him.

The Grand County Coroner's Office identified the man who died on June 1, 2024, as Brent Boulter, a 56-year-old from Aurora. The missing man was identified as Thomas Russell, a 61-year-old from Littleton. Preliminary reports were that neither of them was wearing a personal floatation device, according to the sheriff's office. A third person from the group was able to safely exit the river and was accounted for in 2024.

On June 2, 2024, river rangers from the Bureau of Land Management and officers from Colorado Parks and Wildlife conducted additional search operations by raft and kayak in the Colorado River from Radium to Two Bridges, according to the media release. Crews were unable to find Russell.

On May 21, 2025, the Grand County Sheriff's Office was contacted by the Eagle County Sheriff’s Office saying that they had located a deceased person in the Colorado River near Rancho Del Rio, the media release says. The discovery of the body happened after a significant decrease in water levels in the Rancho Del Rio area.

Based on the preliminary investigation, the person was believed to be Russell and the Eagle County Coroner's Office transferred the case to the Grand County Coroner's Office. The coroner's office notified Russell's family after he was forensically identified using dental records.