Sheriff Coursey, 44, and his Undersheriff, Ray Blaum, were on Highway 149 near the Packer Massacre Site at the base of Slumgullion Pass early Friday morning, November 18, 1994, when they halted a pickup with a man and woman suspected in a series of burglaries which had occurred hours before in Creede.
After stopping the pickup, Sheriff Coursey was standing beside the vehicle when he was fatally shot with a .44-caliber Regur pistol. The vehicle’s occupants, driver Mark Allen Vredenburg, and his companion, Ruth N. Slater, then fled the scene, Undersheriff Blaum firing several bullets through the tailgate of the pickup.
An intense search for the suspects followed the Sheriff’s murder, although it wasn’t until several weeks later, December 17, 1994, that the bodies of Slater and Vredenburg — an apparent murder/suicide — were found beneath a tree overlooking Lake City Heights Subdivision.
Among those with heartfelt memories of Sheriff Coursey’s death is Ray Blaum, now a resident of Norfolk, Virginia, who was in Lake City with his son, Tim Blaum, for Monday’s anniversary. Jerry Gray shares the above photo of father and son Blaum who are posed beside a memorial near where Sheriff Coursey died. In addition to flowers, attached to the white cross memorial is an enclosed sign-in sheet for those visiting the site, signers including law enforcement officers from throughout the U.S. who leave their names with badge numbers.
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