5 hikers killed by Colo. rock slide on easy trail

10/1/2013

Colorado State Patrol Trooper Brandon Wilkins tells a driver Monday Sept. 30, 2013, that the road is closed to all non-emergency traffic while emergency response and law enforcement agencies deal with a rock slide at Agnes Vaille Falls. Authorities say five hikers have been trapped by a rock slide on the trail in south-central Colorado, and another has been pulled out and flown to a hospital. (AP Photo/The Mountain Mail, James Redmond)

ASSOCIATED PRESS

BUENA VISTA, Colo.  — Authorities have identified the victims of a Colorado rock slide as members of an extended family from Colorado and Missouri, including a 10-year-old boy.

The Chaffee County Sheriff’s Department said today the lone survivor, 13-year-old Gracie Johnson, was dug out by rescuers and taken by helicopter to a Denver hospital with a broken leg.

The five people who were killed included Gracie’s parents, Dwayne and Dawna Johnson, and her 18-year-old sister, Kiowa-Rain Johnson, all of nearby Buena Vista, Colo.

The sheriff’s department says the other victims were 10-year-old Baigen Walker and 22-year-old Paris Walkup, both of Birch Tree, Mo. They were nephews of Dwayne and Dawna Johnson.

Dwayne Johnson was 46. Dawna Johnson was 45.

The slide occurred Monday on a popular hiking trail in south-central Colorado.