Investigators Determine Why Driver Plunged Off Independence Pass
Boulder Man's Remains Found 2 Years After Fatal Accident POSTED: 9:28 am MDT September 30, 2004
A Boulder, Colo., man whose skeletal remains were found around his wrecked car on Independence Pass two years after his fatal accident was going too fast on a hairpin curve, investigators said Wednesday. Terry Johnson remains were found along with his his wrecked Mazda Miata, at the bottom of a cliff just below the final hairpin curve at the top of the east side of the pass between Aspen and Twin Lakes. Lake County investigators said Johnson was traveling too fast as he went into the curve and lost control, going off a cliff and down the mountainside, out of view of passing motorists. He was ejected from his car during the crash and his car came to rest next to another car from a previous wreck
Terry Johnson's body decomposed for two years near the top of Independence Pass as thousands of motorists drove by unaware just a few hundred yards away. A hunter found the car and remains and notified authorities on Sept. 17. Johnson's car was hauled back up the cliff Sunday. The hairpin curve has a posted speed limit of 10 mph, but investigators said Johnson was likely traveling faster than 30 mph when he lost control and went off the road. It was also raining the day he disappeared. What is still not clear is why Johnson was on Independence Pass in the first place. He was last seen in Boulder at a shopping center dropping off videos the morning of Sept. 25, 2002. He failed to pick up his son from football practice that same day and was reported missing. Johnson's jaw was sent to a lab in Jefferson County to confirm his identity with dental records. A memorial service for Johnson is schedule for Friday at Littleton Methodist Church.