Frisco resident dies in I-70 rollover

SILVERTHORNE —A rollover Tuesday morning on Interstate 70 killed Frisco resident Analisette Sapien, who was ejected from the back seat of an SUV traveling eastbound below the Eisenhower Tunnel.

According to Colorado State Patrol, Sapien was 7 months pregnant and was not wearing a seat belt at the time of the accident.

The restrained driver has been identified as Jose Bucio, 28, of Frisco, and the restrained passenger was Libia Fuentes-Meza, also of Frisco.

According to hospital representative Bev Lilly, both Bucio and Fuentes-Meza are listed in serious condition at St. Anthony's Central in Denver.

“There were three people in the vehicle and the back seat female passenger was partially ejected,” said Capt. Ron Prater with the Colorado State Patrol. “The vehicle went approximately 300 feet off the road and rolled as many as six times.”

According to Capt. Prater, the Nissan Pathfinder that rolled off the roadway was registered in Frisco, but the names of the passengers are not being released at this time. Lake Dillon Fire-Rescue crews were the first to arrive on the scene and had to use ropes and pulleys to repel down the embankment in order to extract passengers from the wreck.

More than 21 volunteer members of the Summit County Rescue Group also responded to the scene and helped Lake Dillon crews set up a rope uphaul system anchored to a fire truck.

“Responders repelled down and stabilized the car so they could extract the people inside,” said Brandon Williams with Lake Dillon Fire-Rescue. “It was an incredible team effort and crews were able to lift the passengers up by hand and get them into the ambulance that was waiting on scene.”

According to Williams, the steep angle of the embankment made the scene incredibly difficult to navigate. Poor visibility also complicated the rescue efforts, he said.

State Patrol is now following up with witnesses who saw the crash but suspect the cause was directly related to traveling too fast for the road conditions.

“It’s important to send out the safety message that driving in the mountains of Colorado is very serious,” said Prater. “Conditions can change from wet to icy in just a matter of miles, and people need to slow down and be aware of the ever-changing conditions.”

Forecasts call for continued precipitation through Thursday.

<i>Ashley Dickson can be reached at (970) 668-4629, or at adickson@summitdaily.com.</i>