Rio Blanco County Sheriff’s Office has closed the missing person case for Rangely resident Peter Ruffner after announcing his cause of death on Tuesday. According to the Sheriff’s Office, forensic results showed that the cause of death was drowning with contributors to death being methamphetamine and alcohol intoxication. The Colorado Bureau of Investigation positively identified the body recovered from the White River on November 29th as 66-year-old Peter Ruffner earlier this month. Ruffner had been missing since Friday, September 29th, and search and rescue efforts were ongoing but his disappearance remained a mystery. On November 29th, Rio Blanco County Sheriff Mazzola was patrolling in the Rangely area and went to the Texas Beach area of the White River where he was met by a Rangely resident who had just found a body in the river while hunting for ducks along the shore. Rangely Fire and the Rio Blanco County Coroner were called in to help retrieve the body from the river. It was believed from the beginning that the body could be that of Peter Ruffner. The public announcement of the positive identification, however, wasn’t made until December 12th.
