Remains found at site of vehicle located off Wolf Creek Pass 

MINERAL COUNTY — The body of a female was found Tuesday about 150 feet from a vehicle found hundreds of feet from the roadway off Highway 160 on Wolf Creek Pass. 

A team of local and state law enforcement, search and rescue officials and others worked to reach the Ford Focus hatchback. Members of the Mineral and Archuleta counties Search and Rescue teams, Colorado State Patrol, Mineral County Sheriff’s Office and the Colorado Department of Transportation traveled to an area off Colorado State Highway 160 at MM 162 on the pass to reach the vehicle. 

Although the name of the deceased will not be released until positive identification and family notification can be made by the Mineral County Coroner’s office, the South Fork Police Department announced Tuesday that the blue 2012 Ford Focus believed to be owned by missing woman Marlena Mizell had been found in the South Fork vicinity. 

According to reports from the Colorado Bureau of Investigation (CBI), Mizell was reported missing by family on January 2. Reports indicated that Mizell was last seen leaving the Rainbow Grocery store at around noon that day. 

“We are not releasing a lot of information at this time including the location of the vehicle for safety reasons,South Fork Police Chief Hank Weber said Monday. “We are waiting for weather and snow to change in order to recover the vehicle from its location, but as of today Mizell remains missing.” 

Investigators with the Colorado State Patrol are working to determine the cause of the crash.