Colorado Turkey Hunter Killed

May 19, 2005

From the Grand Junction, Colorado Daily Sentinel

Man killed during turkey hunt

Wednesday, May 18, 2005

By MIKE McKIBBIN

The Daily Sentinel

NEW CASTLE — A Qwest Communications executive died of a bullet wound Saturday while turkey hunting northwest of New Castle in the East Elk Creek area, Garfield County Sheriff Lou Vallario said.

Jeffrey Rando Garrett, 37, of Aurora, was an assistant vice president who lobbied for Qwest at the state capitol.

Vallario said Tuesday that Garrett’s death is suspicious, but investigators do not believe he was a homicide victim.

Preliminary autopsy results determined he died of a single, small-caliber gunshot wound to his right chest, and it does not appear to be self-inflicted, Vallario said. The entry wound was in a downward direction, he said.

“It could be from being in the wrong place at the wrong time, and he was hit by a bullet that had been fired into the air, literally a bullet out of the sky,” Vallario said. “Or he could have been calling for a turkey and someone mistakenly shot at him.”

Garrett and two friends arrived at about 6:30 a.m. and split up to hunt turkeys, Vallario said. The three hunters were to meet again later in the morning, but Garrett failed to appear. His friends reported him missing at approximately 3 p.m., and members of the County Search and Rescue team found his body at about 7 p.m.

Vallario said cell phones do not work in that area, so if his friends tried to call him, they wouldn’t have reached him. Garfield County Search and Rescue used a satellite phone to tell officials they found Garrett, he said.

Colorado’s spring turkey season runs from April 9May 22, said Division of Wildlife spokesman Randy Hampton.

East Elk Creek is in game management Unit 33, where hunting is allowed with an unlimited Colorado turkey license, he said.

“There are turkeys in every drainage out there from Rifle to Glenwood Springs, so we see more and more turkey hunters,” Hampton said.

Turkey hunters are limited to bows and arrows and 10-gauge shotguns only, he said, with rifles and handguns illegal.

Vallario said investigators believe the bullet that killed Garrett was either a .22- or .222-caliber. It will be sent to the Colorado Bureau of Investigation for ballistic tests that will determine the exact caliber and a possible group of guns that could have fired it.

One of Garrett’s friends had a .38-caliber handgun, but it had not been fired, Vallario said.

Vallario said the deceased hunter’s two friends, whom he would not identify, were from Parker and Wheat Ridge. One might have had a New Castle address and could have helped guide the other two into the area, he said.

“Their stories check out, and we do not consider them suspects at this time,” Vallario said. “They have been extremely cooperative.”

Garrett was “very well camouflaged” when he was found by a tracking dog Saturday night, Vallario said.

“The dog’s handler said he would have walked right by him if his dog hadn’t picked up on him,” he said.

Garrett was in a sitting position, Vallario said, with his shotgun and gloves against a nearby tree. That seemed to indicate Garrett had been trying to call a turkey when he was shot and did not stand up and stagger any distance after he was shot, Vallario said.

The immediate area was thoroughly searched Saturday night and all day Sunday, but no weapon was found, Vallario said. One possibility is an “under-over” rifle that shoots shotgun shells out of one barrel and bullets out of another might have been used, he said.

A statement from Qwest spokesman Michael Dunne said the company was deeply saddened by Garrett’s tragic death.

“Jeff was an extremely dedicated and valued leader at Qwest and a familiar face at the Colorado state capitol,” he said. “More importantly, Jeff was a dear friend to many former and current Qwest employees. Our thoughts and prayers go out to his family as they deal with their terrible loss.”

Garrett is survived by his wife, Charlotte, and two children, Olivia, 3, and Adam, 1. A funeral was scheduled Thursday at Lord of the Hills Lutheran Church in Centennial, with a burial service scheduled Saturday in Tulsa, Okla., where he was born.

Vallario said if anyone was in the East Elk Creek area Saturday morning and/or can provide any information to help with the investigation, they should call the Sheriff’s Department at (970) 945-0453.

Mike McKibbin can be reached via e-mail at [email protected].

Covehnter · May 19, 2005