Daily Press News Editor
URAVAN — Two clients of the Alternative Youth Adventures program are lucky to be alive after an alleged escape into the cold near Uravan Christmas Eve.
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The two were reported missing the morning of Dec. 24.
“They just walked away from the group,” Montrose County Sheriff’s Office Lt. Shawn Cline said. “They (later) said they just didn’t want to be in the program any longer. I really think they thought they could get out and get away.”
The AYA program contracts with the states of Colorado, Montana and Utah to provide youngsters with cognitive behavior wilderness therapy. It is a staff-secure program, meaning participants are monitored by staff members, not physically restrained.
Clients include youthful offenders sentenced to the Department of Youth Correction, as well as various other agencies. Cline said for DYC clients, it’s an “early-out” program, meaning that if they complete its requirements, they get time off their sentence.
He could not say why Yazzie was in DYC.
Searchers found Yazzie first, at approximately 2 p.m. Dec. 24, with the aid of an AYA tracker, who had been following him and providing his direction of travel. Cline said the helicopter landed, collected Yazzie and took him to sheriff’s personnel.
“Both of them ran together at the same time. The 16-year-old and Mr. Yazzie split up and went different directions,” Cline said. “The tracker stayed with Yazzie. We had to go back and relocate the 16-year-old’s trail. Then Mark (Young) was able to jump out in front and locate him.”
Young said searchers located tracks headed in the direction of Uncompahgre Butte. Young was able to track him at the 9,000-foot elevation, though the presence of several elk tracks hampered efforts.
“It was good snow, so I could actually track him through the air. He was kind of going in circles, backtracking and seemed disoriented,” Young said.
Young found the boy by Campbell Lake shortly after sunset. Because of the darkness and the altitude, he put his helicopter down and retrieved the boy himself.
It was 14 degrees when Young landed. Cline reported both escapees were clad in wool sweatshirts, but not properly equipped for a night outside.
“He had no provisions for spending the night anywhere. I doubt he would have survived the night,” Young said of the juvenile.
Cline also said the boy’s life was in danger. “Fortunately, Mark did find him, because otherwise, I believe he would have become hypothermic and would have been overcome by the cold.”
He said both young men were cooperative once found. “They were both cold, tired and hungry.”
Yazzie was taken to Grand Mesa Youth Services in Grand Junction on a parole violation warrant, while the juvenile was apparently turned over to Mesa County Human Services.
The boys’ alleged escapes were not the first this year. In July, two adult clients and two youths fled an AYA outing near Norwood, in San Miguel County. Three of the four escapees were captured; at last report, the fourth, identified as Frank Jarvis, 18, was still missing.
An AYA representative in Montrose referred media calls to the corporate office, but could not provide contact information. The local AYA director was out of the office Thursday.
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