A search team from Wyoming was among the volunteers who helped uncover a pair of hiking boots that led law enforcement to the discovery of a dead body that is likely that of a missing 33-year-old Colorado man, Nick Salvagni.
The body was recovered by the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office and local search and rescue units Wednesday afternoon, according to a release from the department.
Volunteer searchers, including Stacy Koester and Ashley Means of Gillette, uncovered the hiking shoes March 2 after a daylong search at the Stegosaurus Park and Ride, off Interstate 70 near Red Rocks Amphitheater.
Salvagni had been missing since early December when he was last seen leaving a hotel in Eagle, Colorado. His abandoned vehicle was later located at the park and ride site at the end of January.
Salvagni’s dog was also located at the same location a month prior.
Salvagni’s father Brian, who lives in Ohio, believes his son may have stopped at the site on his way to or from a job interview in Denver to give his dog a bathroom break when the dog got away.
Brian theorized that his son returned to the location to look for his missing pup when he either got lost or hurt while searching and succumbed to cold weather or potentially had a medical incident of some kind that led to his demise.
And though authorities have not confirmed that the body they found is his son, Brian told Cowboy State Daily on Thursday that he’s 100% confident it’s Nick based on details shared by the coroner and law enforcement, and the fact that nobody else was missing in the area.
An autopsy is pending, Brian said, and authorities do not suspect foul play.
If The Shoe Fits …
Koester and Means, cofounders of the missing person search group WyoFind Search, Rescue and Recovery, formed the nonprofit to help families like the Salvagnis with the mission of providing resources – including private investigation work, searches and media materials – all free of charge.
Koester said it was an emotional night for her Wednesday after learning that the body recovered is almost certainly Salvagni.
The search had been organized by Britney Hartman of the Colorado-based nonprofit missing person search group Justice Takes Flight, which helped Koester’s group on a search in Gillette for a missing Kenyan nursing student, Irene Gakwa, who disappeared in February 2022.
Means and Koester wanted to return the favor and help with the Colorado effort.
During the daylong search, they located several suspicious items, including clothing, miscellaneous trash, vape pens and most notably, a pair of untied blue-and-gray Timberland hiking shoes with red trim found off one of the trails.
At the time, Brian confirmed the shoes were Salvagni’s size and of the style that his son was known to wear.
The shoes were later confirmed to be a perfect match with those Salvagni was last seen wearing in surveillance footage from a gas station procured by Brian weeks ago. He sent it to journalist Chris Perez with Westword in Denver, who had also been at the search, to see if could spot anything.
Perez noticed the shoes after his first viewing and contacted Brian and Hartman. The three had a conference call, Perez said, to discuss next steps.
Both Perez and Hartman met with Golden Police officers Wednesday at the park and ride to retrieve the shoes. When they were leaving, Hartman sent them the surveillance video showing the identical match. The police then called in the Jefferson County Sheriff's Office and search and rescue crews to scour the hillsides for Salvagni.
Sure enough, the shoes led to the discovery of the body, which was a distance down a steep hill from where they were found.
Bittersweet Discovery
Like Means and Koester, Hartman said the discovery was bittersweet.
On one hand, she’s happy to help a family get answers, even if they aren’t the ones they hoped for.
“I'm excited and happy that it looks like we might be getting closer to him, but it's sad that it's not ending the way that we wanted it to,” she said.
Brian, however, said he’s so grateful for all the help in finding his son and said he couldn’t have done it without the trio. He also said that despite his grief, he felt much better Thursday morning with the knowledge that his son has been found.
“I feel a lot different today than I did yesterday,” he said. “At least I’m no longer wondering where he is.”
On A Mission
Up until two years ago, neither Koester nor Means had ever searched for a missing person. Koester, 40, works fulltime as an office manager for a tire company in Gillette, while Means, 30, works for the city parks and recreation crew.
The two met after Koester formed a small group of locals to search for Irene Gakwa, a Kenyan-born nursing student, who moved to Gillette in July 2021.
Gakwa disappeared in late February 2022 from the home she shared with her live-in boyfriend, Nathan Hightman, who is considered by police to be a person of interest in her disappearance.
Hightman is now serving three to six years in a Wyoming prison after pleading guilty to three felonies for stealing her money and deleting an email account.
Koester became involved in Gakwa’s case after reading a post on social media about her disappearance. She formed a small volunteer search group, which is how she met Means, and has since formed close attachment to Gakwa’s family, which she now considers like her own.
Her work on Gakwa’s case led Koester to study to become a private investigator under the tutelage of a Utah-based missing person group, Road Warriors for the Missing.
The pair are also mentoring under a professional volunteer search and rescue group out of South Dakota to hone their search and mountaineering skills. The South Dakota group, which asked to remain anonymous due to its full-time careers, joined Koester and Means in the recent search in Colorado as well as a search last fall in Laramie for Christopher Mauk, whose deceased remains were found along a bike path in November.
Along with Gakwa and Mauk, the pair were also instrumental in helping locate a missing mother from Torrington, Azia Saldana, who was later located in a Denver jail in November after being arrested on drug charges.
Their work with missing people has become a passion for both women, prompting them to form the nonprofit with hopes of expanding their efforts throughout the state.
'The Tough Part Of What We Do'
Though, searching for missing people might not be for everyone, for Koester and Means it’s a passion. They are driven by an innate desire to help the families of the missing, even when it means delivering bad news.
“This is the actual tough part of what we do,” Means said. “The trekking and hiking are nothing compared to dealing with the after-effects. My heart breaks a million times thinking about the situation.”
Koester was equally emotional when hearing that Salvagni’s remains were almost certainly found.
“It’s a very heart-breaking feeling,” Koester said. “Nick’s family were feet on the ground with us, and we saw the love his family has for him, so we know the heartbreak they are feeling right now. We are grateful they will have closure, but devastated for their loss.”
Brian struggled to find words to express his gratitude for Koester, Means, Hartman and all the volunteers and law enforcement.
“Those people were wonderful, and I just can't give them enough accolades,” Brian said. “It’s because of them that we found him. We wouldn’t have been able to do it without them, and I wouldn’t be living this purgatory today as we speak.”
His son was a kind, free-spirited man who spent his years bouncing between Chicago and Denver, where he felt an affinity for the freedom of Colorado, Brian said.
Since posting about his son on Facebook, Brian said he’s been contacted by friends of his son from across the country and world.
“He was gregarious and could light up a room with his personality,” Brian said. “I’m just glad that he touched so many lives.”
Koester and Means are likewise touched by the stories and were happy to do their part in helping Brian bring his son home.
“No family should ever have to face the hardships of a missing person, but unfortunately, it’s a reality that happens,” Koester said. “Though we cannot alleviate the family’s suffering, we can help them through it to the best of our ability.”
Jen Kocher can be reached at: Jen@CowboyStateDaily.com
Jen Kocher can be reached at jen@cowboystatedaily.com.
