Delta County Sheriff’s Office and Delta County Search and Rescue Cease Search for Cedaredge Man | Community

On December 20, 2023, Cedaredge Police were contacted by a family member of 39-year-old Steven Volquardsen to conduct a welfare check based on Steven’s recent suicide statements. Cedaredge Police officers spoke with family members and then went to Steven’s home on N. Grand Mesa Drive in the Town of Cedaredge, but were unable to locate Steven.

On December 22, 2023, Delta County Sheriff’s Office deputies responded to the 28000 block of Surface Creek Road for a report of an abandoned vehicle that had been parked there with the engine running for approximately two days. Upon arrival, officers found a dark-colored SUV with Colorado plates registered to Steven.

Officers found the driver’s door open and the key in the ignition. Apparently the vehicle had run out of gas. Due to known information regarding concern for Steven and the fact that he was not with his vehicle, officers requested the Delta County Search and Rescue Team to assist in the search for Steven in the area. The search and rescue team and officers searched the immediate area for several hours but were unable to locate Steven.

Members of the Delta County Search and Rescue team returned the next day and continued the search until conditions became unsafe due to extreme winter weather. The search and rescue team then returned several more times throughout the winter to try to find Steven, but he was not found.

On Saturday, May 18, 2024, the Delta County Search and Rescue Team conducted a search with assistance from 27 searchers from other search and rescue teams, including Mesa County, Montrose County, the West Elk Mountain Rescue Team and the Delta County Sheriff’s Office conducted further extensive searches in the Spalding Mountain area; this is the last known hiking direction that Steven left in December. Unfortunately, the search teams were unable to find any trace of Steven.

Sheriff Mark Taylor would like to thank the members of the Delta County Search and Rescue Team for all of the time and effort they have put into locating Steven so far so that his family can have closure. Sheriff Taylor would also like to thank all of the other teams that have come to Delta County to assist in this search. The Sheriff’s Office and Delta County Search and Rescue Team will continue to search for Steven as new information comes in, but the main search effort has been suspended as rescue crews conduct an extensive search of the area where Steven was last believed to be. Sheriff Taylor and Search and Rescue Team Leader Toltz would like to urge anyone in the Round Corrals/Spalding Mountain area on the Grand Mesa to be on the lookout for anything unusual and to immediately report it to Delta County Operations at 970-874-2015.

The Delta County Search and Rescue Team is a non-profit organization operated by volunteers from throughout Delta County who assist in the search and rescue of missing and injured persons in Delta County at the request of the Delta County Sheriff’s Office. The team continually needs additional volunteers to support its mission, as well as donations to fund equipment, training and supplies. For more information about the Delta County Search and Rescue Team and how you can support its efforts through donations, visit DeltaCountyCO.gov/68/Search-and-Rescue.

If your organization has a public notice you would like us to post on HighCountryShopper.complease send to [email protected]. We are happy to promote non-political and appropriate messages.