Sheriff Calls Death Case Connected To Cabin Full Of Explosives 'Bizarre'

TURRET, Colo. (CBS4) - Police are continuing to search a mountain cabin filled with explosives and chemicals used to make them.

According to the Chaffee County Sheriff's Department, Edwin Bartheld, 92, was found dead by a friend in a crawl space beneath his cabin in Turret Friday afternoon after friends became concerned because they hadn't heard from him in more than a week.

Turret is a place known primarily as an old mining town. The few homes in the old mining town are spread out and residents say that for most of the year there are only two or three people living in the town.

Authorities originally thought Bartheld died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound several days ago, but after further investigation "authorities discovered a large cache of explosive devices and chemicals commonly used for manufacturing explosives inside the house," the Chaffee County Sheriff's Department said in a statement.

"As we looked closer we found explosives or materials used for the manufacture of explosive devices throughout the house," Chaffee County Sheriff Derek Bos told CBS4.

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Deputies had to call in two hazardous materials teams because of all the explosive devices found in the home. Police don't believe Bartheld committed suicide. He was a familiar face in the nearby town of Salida, although nobody wanted to go on camera to talk about him.

"It's become a very complex investigation and it's very bizarre," Bos said.

Turret is often called a ghost town and some nearby say the incident is only adding to the mystery of the area.

Some who know Bartheld say he's lived there since the 1970s and had a background in mining and surveying. An autopsy was performed Monday but the results haven't been released.

Bos said they have a suspected motive but aren't yet ready to release it.