Expeditionhighway Enjoy Creative Wild Adventure

Human

Skeleton

Discovered in

Henson Creek

Cave

        A reality show creator scouting for adventure film locations in remote Hinsdale County got more than he bargained for late last week when he stumbled across a partially buried human skeleton in a cavern on North Henson Creek approximately 11 miles from Lake City.  “It scared me to death and I made a hasty exit out of that cave,” says Sedalia, Colorado, resident Jeff...continued page 5.  A visitor to a North Henson Creek cavern last Friday, July 31, was startled to find a partially buried human skeleton. Skeletal arm and exterior view of cavern at right and below.

Skeleton,

continued from page 1.

      Burch who was in the area seeking locations for a
planned film series entitled “Expedition Highway”.
On his first visit to Lake City late last week, Burch
drove up Henson Creek to Capitol City and then
ventured a mile up North Henson Creek where he
spotted an intriguing cavern located in a rock
formation above the 4-wheel drive road.
According to Burch’s subsequent report to
Hinsdale County Sheriff’s Dept., he scrambled up a
rough gravel trail to the cavern and temporarily
sought refuge in the
dark interior when it
began to rain. Alone in
the cave, he briefly
relaxed by drinking a
beer and smoking a
cigarette.
    As he scanned the
semi-dark interior of
the cave, Burch was
horrified when he
glimpsed a skeletal
human arm and hand
sticking out of the dirt
in a rear recess of the
cave. Burch says he
initially failed to notice
the bones, although the
arm and hand
startingly came into
view when he casually
reached down to pick
up a feather.
      According to Burch,
“there was no sign of
anyone being in the
cave before me recently.
There were no footprints.”
Burch gently investigated as he used  a stick to brush away dirt, slowly revealing not only the articulated bones of a human arm and hand, but also the rib cage and sternum. He also noticed that some of the finger bones were missing and that the bones which remained appeared to be partially entangled in wire. “When I saw the ribs, that really did me in,” Burch says, “I dropped the stick and headed for the exit.”

       Burch drove back down the North Henson Creek Road, waited several hours at a U.S. Forest Service truck parked at the Matterhorn Peak Trail head and then later on Friday afternoon continued back to Lake City where he contacted Hinsdale County Sheriff’s Dept. by calling 911.  Hinsdale County Under sheriff  Bob Burden, Tom Reyburn of Hinsdale County Search & Rescue, and Hinsdale Coroner Jerry Grey were successively
contacted Friday evening, with plans made for Burch and the Hinsdale County representatives to return to the Henson Creek cave at mid-day on Saturday, August 1.
According to Hinsdale County Coroner Jerry Gray, Burch’s description of the human bones initially made him consider the remote cave as a potential murder scene where a body had been hidden. The wire, he considered, may have been used to bind the
victim or perhaps wrap up the remains prior to disposal.

      In addition to Gray, others making the trek up into the cavern on Saturday were Deputy Coroner Kris Pedersen, and Tom Reyburn and Bernie Krystyniak
of Hinsdale County Search & Rescue, together with Expedition Highway Host Burch.
Gray describes the cavern as a naturally eroded cavern perhaps 20’ deep and 40’ long with a slanting ceiling 20’ above a powder dry dirt and gravel floor.  Arriving in the dim cave, Gray quickly identified the partially exposed human bones protruding from the ground in the back left corner of the cave. The bones appeared to have been interred for some time, according to Gray, and -- other than Burch’s footprints -- there was no sign of recent visitors to the immediate area.   “The bones had been there for at least a year,” says Gray, “and probably much longer, maybe decades.”  In inspecting the protruding bones, Gray and Pedersen quickly made the determination that this
was neither a body nor a murder scene: the wire which Burch had first noticed was instead the wires connecting individual bones of a professionally prepared medical skeleton used for diagnostic or instructional purposes.
     

          Further excavation by Gray using a stick and nearby stones revealed the entire articulated skeleton buried a few inches beneath the ground surface. The
skeleton was intact with the exception of a detached arm and several missing fingers; the skeleton was topped with a skull cap rather than a full skull.  In furnishing SILVER WORLD with an update on the macabre discovery earlier this week, Gray was obviously relieved that the skeleton was not the remainder from some past
remote country crime which had accidentally been uncovered. Gray’s conjecture
is that the skeleton formerly reposed in some medical or biological laboratory at a
regional college or university.
       

          Continuing his supposition, Gray states the anatomical skeleton was possibly
“borrowed” at some point in the not-too-distant past and temporarily hidden in the
North Henson Creek cave where it was perhaps used
for years in some hazing ritual.
      

       The true facts of the skeleton and how it got into the Hinsdale County cave
may never be known. Gray has, however, put out tentative investigative
inquiries by leaving a message for Dr. Gauss, along-standing biology professor at Western State College in Gunnison. If not WSC, the skeleton could potentially have originated at any one of a number of colleges or universities in Colorado or surrounding states, if it originated from an institution at all.

        One possible clue is a dimly preserved series of letters and numbers which are imprinted on the skeleton’s skull cap.  In the meantime, the newly found skeleton is
temporarily reposing on the couch in the waiting room at Hinsdale County Sheriff’s Dept. Gray is in hopes subsequent investigation will allow the skeleton to be returned to its rightful owner.
      

          As for Expedition Highway Creator and Host, Burch, he admits the unsettling
and totally unexpected discovery initially put him off. “I have never found anything like this in my lifetime and quite frankly it bothered me enough that
I just wanted to get out of there.” Hastily exiting the cave, Burch says he made a
silent vow to the skeleton, “if you help me get out of here, I will bring someone back for you... after all, that was a living person at one time.”

        Burch states he’ll definitely be back to Lake City for planned 2010 filming of an adventure series entitled “Expedition Highway.” Produced by local Denver film company DCH Films and Entertainment.  The series’ initial segment will highlight history and tales of a lost gold mine which according to legend is located somewhere
between Lake City and Ouray.  “I still plan on shooting your town on film,” Burch
states, “sharing your history with the American public.”

By: The Lake City Silver World News Paper

-Published 07 August 2009

-Edited By: D. Hutto, J. Burch, and K. Emery

We fixed the error folks, see how easy life can be if you don't make it difficult.

Have a great day from all of us to you.

Jeff Burch