Barbara Lawlor, Boulder County.  One person died and three people were injured in a rollover accident in Boulder Canyon on Tuesday afternoon. About 4:30 p.m. the report of a rollover accident at the 31 mile marker in the canyon sent Nederland Fire Protection District firefighters to the scene. They found a single car on its side pointed downhill, about 10 feet above Boulder Creek, the body of the car bent in the middle by the tree it landed on.

A passenger was ejected from the vehicle and thrown into the creek. She was pronounced deceased at the scene.  Three other passengers and a small child were trapped in the car which was wrapped around the trunk of the tree.

A passerby went to see if she could help and the woman in the backseat handed her the child, who was not injured, through the window. It was unknown whether or not the child had been in a car seat at the time of the accident.

Mutual Aid from the Nederland Police Department, Boulder Emergency Squad, Boulder County Sheriff’s Office, Rocky Mountain Rescue and the Sugarloaf Fire Protection District responded to the scene to assist with the complex, technical extrication.

First the vehicle had to be stabilized to prevent it from plunging into the creek and to keep the structure stable, stop it from collapsing on the patients who were entangled in the twisted metal of the interior of the car.

Piece by piece the extrication equipment cut off the roof, the doors, the back and managed to pull the three adults from the vehicle.

Two medi-vac helicopters landed in the canyon, waiting to transport the patients to the hospital.

According to witnesses, the vehicle was traveling toward Nederland at a high rate of speed when it skidded sideways on a turn, traveling across the oncoming traffic lane and off the road, down the bank,  and crashing into a large tree as it flipped on its side.

Boulder Canyon traffic was stopped both ways for about four hours as the extrication and investigation took place.

---- Update-----

Investigators are looking at the possibility that drugs and/or alcohol were involved in the accident in Boulder Canyon.

Colorado State Patrol has identified Kelley Wiggins, 37, of Boulder,  as the man driving the Pontiac Firebird.

A female passenger,  identified Thursday as Alexus Valentin, 21, of Boulder  was killed in the accident.

A Colorado State Patrol Trooper said Thursday that investigators are looking at drugs and/or alcohol as a possible factor. However no citations have been issued at this time.