U.S. NEWS
6 people are found dead at a Colorado dairy. Authorities suspect an accident involving gas exposure

BY MORGAN LEE AND AUDREY MCAVOY
Updated 11:27 PM EDT, August 21, 2025

An apparent accident at a dairy in a rural farming community in Colorado involving exposure to gas killed six people, including a high school student, authorities said Thursday.

Investigators are looking into what kind of gases may have played a role in the deaths Wednesday at Prospect Valley Dairy in Keenesburg, about 35 miles (55 kilometers) northeast of Denver. Crews recovered the bodies in a confined space at the dairy, the Southeast Weld Fire Protection District said.

“We are investigating these deaths as the possible consequence of gas exposure in a confined space,” said Jolene Weiner, chief deputy coroner for Weld County.

The identities of those who died, all Hispanic males, were being withheld pending notification of the families, Weiner said. A local school district said a high school student was among those who died.

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6 Men Are Killed in an Accident at a Colorado Dairy Farm

Fire crews discovered the men’s bodies on Wednesday at a farm near the town of Keenesburg, about 40 miles northeast of Denver, officials said.


Prospect Valley Dairy in Weld County, Colo., on Thursday. 9news

By Jack Healy
Reporting from Denver
Aug. 21, 2025

Six men were killed in an accident on a dairy farm in a rural town in northeastern Colorado, local authorities said on Thursday.

The men’s bodies were discovered after fire crews were called to a “confined space rescue” at 6 p.m. local time on Wednesday near the farming town of Keenesburg, about 40 miles northeast of Denver, according to a statement from Tom Beach, chief of the Southeast Weld County Fire Protection District.

Officials in Weld County, a large agricultural and oil and gas region, did not release the men’s identities or any more information about where the men had been found or how they had died. Melissa Chesmore, a spokeswoman for the Weld County sheriff, said there was “nothing criminal in nature.”

Officials also did not identify the dairy farm where the accident happened, but property records and Colorado business records indicate it is the Prospect Valley Dairy. The business did not return calls for comment on Thursday.

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Jack Healy is a Phoenix-based national correspondent for The Times who focuses on the politics and climate of the Southwest. He has worked in Iraq and Afghanistan and is a graduate of the University of Missouri’s journalism school.