Mother and Son Found Dead in Rocky Mountain National Park

Paula Liu
By Paula Liu
January 28, 2020US News
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Mother and Son Found Dead in Rocky Mountain National Park
A stock photo of police tape. (Jewel Samad/AFP/Getty Images)

A mother and her son were found dead at the Rocky Mountain National Park in Colorado on Jan. 24, according to the Larimer County Coroner’s office.

Tristen Watson, 24, of Colorado Springs and her 17-month-old son, Christopher Watson, were found dead with gunshot wounds to their heads, the coroner’s office stated.

Their bodies were found on Friday afternoon by park rangers, who had been notified of a “suicidal subject” in the park, the National Park Service said in a release. Rangers located Watson’s vehicle near Upper Beaver Meadows Road.

“While searching for the occupants of the vehicle, park rangers temporarily held traffic at the Beaver Meadows Entrance and Fall River Entrance on the east side of Rocky Mountain National Park. This occurred from approximately 3:30 to 4:30 p.m,” the release stated. After the bodies were found, park rangers conducted an on-site investigation and then the bodies were transferred to the Larimer County Coroner’s office.

The office ruled the woman’s official cause of death a suicide, while her son’s death was ruled a homicide.

The Rocky Mountain National Park Law Enforcement was assisted by the Estes Park Police Department, Larimer County Sheriff’s Office, Colorado Parks and Wildlife, as well as Loveland Police Department, the National Park Service said, adding that an investigation is still ongoing.

According to an obituary, Watson was also expecting a daughter, Aspen Ann Watson, who, according to a Facebook post, was due in June 2020. Watson and her children are survived by her husband and their father, Derrick Watson.

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