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Man found dead in gas station bathroom at Aspen Village ID’d by coroner

Armando Zamudio, 29, of Rifle was found unresponsive after deputy broke down door

An autopsy performed on a 29-year-old man found dead in an Aspen Village gas station bathroom Wednesday evening did not discover a cause of death, a Pitkin County coroner said Thursday. 

The man was identified as Armando Zamudio of Rifle, who was on his way home with his father when he didn’t come out of the bathroom, said Eric Hansen, assistant coroner. His father and two cousins had been waiting at the gas station for his son to return from the bathroom, a Pitkin County detective said. 

No paraphernalia or indication of drug use was found in the bathroom, Hansen said. 



“There was no evidence of any drug use at all,” he said. “It’s just a real tragedy.”

Brad Gibson, a detective with the sheriff’s office, said Thursday he searched the bathroom thoroughly and found nothing at all suspicious. He also said there was no indication of suicide. 




There was no evidence of a head injury and his family said he had no underlying health issues, Hansen said.

Pitkin County detectives have no reason to believe foul play in connection with Zamudio’s death and don’t think there’s any safety concern to the community, said Alex Burchetta, director of operations for the Pitkin County Sheriff’s Office. He entered the bathroom alone, he said. 

The autopsy, performed in Denver, found no apparent cause of death, and coroners will now wait three-to-four weeks for a toxicology screen and further analysis to try and determine the reason Zamudio died, Hansen said. 

Zamudio had been in the bathroom 15-to-20 minutes, and there was no evidence that anyone else entered the room while he was inside, he said. 

Emergency dispatchers received a call at 5:41 p.m. Wednesday about an unresponsive man who’d been in the bathroom for 20-to-30 minutes, Burchetta, said. 

A deputy who drove out to the gas station was unable to get a response from the man and, with the manager’s consent, broke down the door and found the man unconscious on the floor, he said. 

The deputy attempted resuscitation efforts, but was unsuccessful, Burchetta said. 

jauslander@aspentimes.com

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