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September 28, 2003
Local hunter's death under investigation
Sheriff hasn't yet ruled shooting death of Gerald Holverson an accident.
By Pam Eggemeier, The Journal-Standard
The Routt County (Colo.) Sheriff's Office is not ready to rule the shooting death of a Wisconsin hunter who was employed by Kelly-Springfield Tire Company in Freeport an accident.
Routt County Sheriff John Warner said his department is following investigative leads and working with the District Attorney's Office on the death of 44-year-old Gerald Holverson, who was killed by a gunshot wound from a .54-caliber muzzle loader Saturday.
Charges against the man suspected of shooting Holverson could be filed today. The sheriff's office would not release the suspect's name, but Routt County Coroner Dwight Murphy said a lifelong friend who was in the hunting party mistook Holverson for an elk and shot him below the right shoulder. Holverson, who worked for Kelly-Springfield for 26 years, died early Saturday morning about a mile west of Waller Reservoir in the King Mountain area of South Routt.
Holverson, who lived in South Wayne, Wis., leaves behind his wife of 24 years, DyAnne, and three daughters, Becky Malkow, Amanda Losenegger and Kelly Holverson. A full obituary appeared in Wednesday's Journal-Standard.
Rich Hofmaster, former Local 745 president, worked with Holverson for 25 years, many of those in the same area. Hofmaster offered to clean out Holverson's work locker on Monday.
"He was supposed to be back on Wednesday," Hofmaster said. "I cleaned out his locker and it was lined from top to bottom with pictures of his family. It's just a terrible tragedy. He was one of the greatest guys I've ever known, and one of the best workers we've ever had at Kelly-Springfield."
Hofmaster said he and Holverson shared a love for hunting.
"Every time we got together, we talked about deer hunting," Hofmaster said. "He had kind of taken a 15-year-old boy under his wing and had taken him hunting. The boy was really excited because he'd gotten a turkey."
Another Kelly-Springfield worker, Dan Kreeger, said a lot of people at the plant were upset by the accident this week.
"He had the reputation of being a super-nice guy," Kreeger said. "He was the type of guy that talked to everybody and was always there to help someone at work."
Holverson had been hunting with a group of six people from Wisconsin and Illinois for about a week. Holverson was wearing some orange apparel, Murphy said. Alcohol was not suspected to be involved.
The hunting party was on Bureau of Land Management land, about a mile from an all-terrain vehicle trail. One of the hunters hiked to a nearby ranch to make the call for help.
The sheriff's office and coroner were notified of the death at noon and arrived on the scene about
2:30 p.m. Holverson was believed to have died within minutes of the shooting.
Christine Metz, a reporter for the Steamboat (Colo.) Pilot and Today, contributed to this story.
Local hunter's death under investigation
Sheriff hasn't yet ruled shooting death of Gerald Holverson an accident.
By Pam Eggemeier, The Journal-Standard
The Routt County (Colo.) Sheriff's Office is not ready to rule the shooting death of a Wisconsin hunter who was employed by Kelly-Springfield Tire Company in Freeport an accident.
Routt County Sheriff John Warner said his department is following investigative leads and working with the District Attorney's Office on the death of 44-year-old Gerald Holverson, who was killed by a gunshot wound from a .54-caliber muzzle loader Saturday.
Charges against the man suspected of shooting Holverson could be filed today. The sheriff's office would not release the suspect's name, but Routt County Coroner Dwight Murphy said a lifelong friend who was in the hunting party mistook Holverson for an elk and shot him below the right shoulder. Holverson, who worked for Kelly-Springfield for 26 years, died early Saturday morning about a mile west of Waller Reservoir in the King Mountain area of South Routt.
Holverson, who lived in South Wayne, Wis., leaves behind his wife of 24 years, DyAnne, and three daughters, Becky Malkow, Amanda Losenegger and Kelly Holverson. A full obituary appeared in Wednesday's Journal-Standard.
Rich Hofmaster, former Local 745 president, worked with Holverson for 25 years, many of those in the same area. Hofmaster offered to clean out Holverson's work locker on Monday.
"He was supposed to be back on Wednesday," Hofmaster said. "I cleaned out his locker and it was lined from top to bottom with pictures of his family. It's just a terrible tragedy. He was one of the greatest guys I've ever known, and one of the best workers we've ever had at Kelly-Springfield."
Hofmaster said he and Holverson shared a love for hunting.
"Every time we got together, we talked about deer hunting," Hofmaster said. "He had kind of taken a 15-year-old boy under his wing and had taken him hunting. The boy was really excited because he'd gotten a turkey."
Another Kelly-Springfield worker, Dan Kreeger, said a lot of people at the plant were upset by the accident this week.
"He had the reputation of being a super-nice guy," Kreeger said. "He was the type of guy that talked to everybody and was always there to help someone at work."
Holverson had been hunting with a group of six people from Wisconsin and Illinois for about a week. Holverson was wearing some orange apparel, Murphy said. Alcohol was not suspected to be involved.
The hunting party was on Bureau of Land Management land, about a mile from an all-terrain vehicle trail. One of the hunters hiked to a nearby ranch to make the call for help.
The sheriff's office and coroner were notified of the death at noon and arrived on the scene about
2:30 p.m. Holverson was believed to have died within minutes of the shooting.
Christine Metz, a reporter for the Steamboat (Colo.) Pilot and Today, contributed to this story.
