CBI seeks tips after suspicious death near Ludlow memorial site

The Colorado Bureau of Investigation is asking for public tips after a body was found in an abandoned building near the Ludlow Massacre Memorial Site, a landmark about 15 miles north of Trinidad. Investigators have identified the deceased as James Hedges, born March 5, 1983, of Trinidad, and are treating the death as suspicious.

CBI said it was called to the scene in the area of Country Road 44 and County Road 61.5 after a visitor found the body on May 17 at about 1:42 p.m. No additional details have been released about how Hedges died or what investigators believe happened inside the building. Authorities have not said whether they are looking for a suspect, a vehicle, or any other specific person or item connected to the case.

The public-safety concern in Las Animas County is now centered on information-sharing without rumor. CBI and the Las Animas County Sheriff’s Office are asking anyone with information to call 719-846-2211, extension 7. Investigators have not described any broader threat to the community, but they are clearly trying to reconstruct what led to the death and who may have been in the area before or after the body was found.

The location gives the case a sharp local edge. The body was discovered near the Ludlow Massacre Memorial Site, a well-known stop in Las Animas County tied to the 1914 Ludlow Massacre. History Colorado says the United Mine Workers of America built the monument in 1918 to honor the victims of that conflict. Trinidad, the county seat, sits south of the site, and Las Animas County takes its name from the Spanish name of the Purgatoire River.