So sad....

Officials: Missing Boulder architect Greg Franta found dead in ravine

By Heath Urie
Originally published 06:40 a.m., March 11, 2009
Updated 08:15 a.m., March 11, 2009

BOULDER, Colo. — A Boulder architect who’s been missing since Feb. 9 has been found dead, according to the Colorado State Patrol.

The body of Greg Franta, 58, was discovered inside his car at the bottom of a ravine between Golden and Boulder on Tuesday afternoon, in what appears to have been an accident.

Trooper David Hall said Franta's 2006 Honda Civic hybrid apparently went off the road while driving south along Colo. 93 at the 4.9 mile marker in Jefferson County.

Hall said evidence points to an accident in which Franta tried to steer the car back onto the road when it started to slide onto the shoulder. The car went 363 feet off the road, rotated once, rolled into two trees and slid down the ravine and landed on its roof.

The car was not visible from the roadway, Hall said. Based on the condition of the body, and the fact that Franta was last seen alive during the early morning hours Feb. 9, investigators think the accident happened about that time.

Franta was found wearing his seat belt, and investigators do not suspect alcohol or drugs were involved.

"He could have fallen asleep, he could have had a heart attack," Hall said. "We may never know what the cause of the accident was."

Hall said the body was recovered at 1:47 p.m. Tuesday after a passer-by reported seeing the car. The case remains open and under investigation.

A Boulder police spokesperson was not immediately available. Jefferson County Coroner Katherine Loughrey-Stemp confirmed her office has Franta's body, but a ruling on Franta's cause and manner of death is pending the return of toxicology tests.

Franta was last seen headed south on Federal Boulevard toward Denver. Police officials have said surveillance cameras captured his last location on the 6700 block of Federal Boulevard, but would not elaborate on what business provided the footage. That area is home to a radiator repair shop, a restaurant and a strip club.

Franta had dinner with a family member and did not show up at work the next day at Boulder’s Rocky Mountain Institute, where he was a senior vice president.

Last month, a digital billboard at I-25 and Colorado Boulevard in south Denver began flashing a message asking for help finding Franta.

Boulder police have been leading the investigation into Franta’s disappearance — despite the fact that he was last seen in unincorporated Adams County headed toward Denver — because he lived in Boulder.

Franta’s interest in environmentally friendly building was sparked at the beginning of his career, according to a co-worker at the Rocky Mountain Institute, which develops renewable and energy-efficient building strategies.

Llewellyn Wells, vice president of communications at the company, said Franta will be missed for his work and his kind nature.

“Greg was a rare human being,” Wells said. “He had more life and spirit than a room full of people would normally have. He was passionate about people and he was passionate about his work. He will be dearly missed.”

Franta was named the Colorado architect of the year in 1998 and also worked with President Bill Clinton to make the White House more energy-efficient, according to his biography on RMI’s Web site.

He also led the projects for the University of Denver’s Sturm College of Law building and Fort Collins’ Fossil Ridge High School, built with sustainable design guidelines in 2004.