Victim identified in Teller County mine incident where 23 were rescued Thursday

TELLER COUNTY, Colo. — A day after an elevator malfunctioned at the Mollie Kathleen Gold Mine near Cripple Creek, county authorities have identified the man killed in Thursday’s incident.

Teller County Sheriff Jason Mikesell said during a news conference Friday that 46-year-old Patrick Weir, a longtime mine employee and local resident, was killed in the incident in which 23 people were rescued.

“We have lost someone in our local community who we will miss, who is the father of a young child and has family in the area,” said Sheriff Mikesell. “He was a good man and loved his job.”

It is believed that Weir died while the elevator was at the 500-foot level, where 11 people were able to be rescued once the elevator was brought back to surface level.

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The other 12 people were 300 meters underground in the mine and authorities said Friday they delayed telling them the full extent of what was happening in an effort to calm nerves as the rescue operation unfolded.

“We made the final decision not to tell them what was happening at 500 feet and on the surface. We knew we wouldn’t be able to get anyone to them. We knew we couldn’t help them if there was a medical emergency,” Mikesell said. “If we had had an anxiety problem or a heart attack from stress, you would be a thousand feet in the air and there would be no way to get up until we got the elevator working.”

Sheriff Mikesell said rescue crews and first responders were able to view the video at the 1,000-foot level and talk to the guide with visitors to the mine.

The 12 people on the lowest level were told only that there was “a simple problem with the elevator and that everything would be fine,” he said.

Once the elevator was brought back with the first 11 people — which included two children — the other 12, all adults from out of state, were brought to the surface. Before the remaining people were rescued, the elevator was sent to the bottom and rose back up unmanned.

“The second part of that was when he went up – rescuers would go down with the homeowner to make sure the well was clear and he knew what he was looking at,” Mikesell said. “We knew we had a broken door and there were issues and it could have hit something. We don’t know what kind of damage occurred.”

One person dead, all 23 others rescued after group became trapped in Colorado gold mine

After testing the elevator system, the remaining 12 people were brought to the surface around 6:30 p.m. in groups of four and were met by a Teller County deputy and provided with food and other necessities, as well as medical and mental health resources.

“I went and informed them,” Mikesell said. “You will turn on your phone in the next few minutes and you will be on stage in front of the national media. They had no idea what was going on.”

He said that was when he and other local officials told those rescued about the tragedy. “That this was a serious incident, it wasn’t just the belief that the elevator was broken and I think it was a very worrying experience for them.”

Sheriff Mikesell said the investigation into the malfunction is ongoing and that OSHA, along with other agencies, were investigating the incident. He said the elevator operator – who is sitting in a taxi on the surface – felt “something strange” and caused him to “stop completely”. ”And then brought him back slowly.

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The mine is named for Mollie Kathleen Gortner, who spotted a rock outcrop with golden quartz in the area in September 1891, according to the tour website. She became the first woman in the region to discover gold and stake a claim in her own name. She died in 1917 and her husband died a year later.

Their son was the mine’s managing operator until he died in 1949. Mining there continued until the early 1960s, when it closed, but visits to the mine, which had been running well for years, continued.

The last incident at the mine is believed to have occurred in 1986.

Denver7’s Stephanie Butzer contributed to this report.