SAN JUAN COUNTY, Colo. -- A sheriff's deputy from La Plata County was killed in a snowmbiling accident on Molas Pass in southwestern Colorado this week.
Hollis Holland, 57, was off-duty Wednesday when the accident happened.
He told his wife his route, destination, where he was parking and when he expected to return. Whe he did not return, she called authorities and a search was initiated.
Rescuers found his body Wednesday night near his snowmobile southeast of the summit of Molas Pass.
Holland started working for the La Plata County Sheriff's Office in 1991. He also worked part time for the San Juan County Sheriff's Office since 1993.
"Holland and his wife moved to the area in the 1970’s where he worked in a mine in Silverton and fell in love with the San Juan Mountains," says La Plata County Sheriff's Office spokesman Dan Bender. "He was a leader with San Juan County Search & Rescue for 10 years and an active member of the Silverton Avalanche School in the 1980’s before joining La Plata County Sheriff’s Office."
"He was instrumental in the operation of the Deputy Ski Program that put LPCSO Deputies on the slopes of Durango Mountain Resort at Purgatory for enhanced security and quicker response times."
Bender says Holland was also well known both in San Juan and La Plata Counties for filling in for Santa Claus when Santa was busy elsewhere.
