The Gun Counter

Large mudslide in Mesa County; 3 missing

The Mesa County Sheriff's Office has confirmed a large landslide on the Grand Mesa near the town of Collbran. The Sheriff says the slide was first reported at 6:15 p.m. and is estimated to be 4 miles long, 2 miles wide and as deep at 250 feet in places. 3 people who live in the area have also been reported missing, it's not known yet if they were caught up in the slide.

The Sheriff's Office says they have personnel on scene with multiple other agencies to search for those reported missing. Everyone aside from emergency responders is being discouraged from going anywhere near the area because of potential dangers due to the unstable situation.

A witness who called into dispatch this evening, described hearing a noise that sounded much like a freight train that is attributed to the slide.

"This slide is unbelievably big," Lt. Phil Stratton, Mesa County Sheriff's Office, said. Weather, including rain, has fallen in Mesa County most of the day and likely contributed to the cause of the slide.

The Sheriff's Office doesn't expect to post any updates overnight due to lack of cell phone service, but will pass along new information Monday.

The three men missing in a massive mudslide that washed over a rural area of Colorado were surveying a previous slide when the second one hit, officials said Monday after surveying the area.

The vehicles the men were driving — a pickup truck and 4-wheeler — have not been found in the slide, which stretches 2 miles and is a half-mile wide and 200 feet deep in some areas, said Mesa County Sheriff Stan Hilkey.