[caption id="attachment_72216" align="aligncenter" width="634"] Richard Koester, pictured here in a photograph released by the Fremont County Sheriff's office, survived for six days next to his dead friend after their truck crashed in Colorado. Koester beat the crash and freezing conditions to stay alive
[/caption]Accident Victim Survives Six Days Beside Body of Dead Friend

Canon City, CO - Outside this small town of just over 16,000 residents sitting over 5,000 ft. above sea level, a six-day ordeal has ended for 37-year-old Richard William Koester. He and his friend 59-year-old Ronald Lee Mohr were returning home from a pleasure trip at the old mining town of Cripple Creek that is known for its gambling casinos.

The truck they were driving lost control and crashed into a culvert (a cutting over a road allowing water or sewage to drain). The culvert was surrounded by vegetation which made the vehicle difficult to spot from the highway. Koester died from injuries sustained in the crash. Mohr survived, but was unable to extricate himself from the wreckage.

A Colorado Department of Transportation worker spotted the pickup on Thursday, Fremont County Coroner Carlette Brocious said.

"They were down in a culvert and you just couldn't see them from the road," Brocious said. "It was just wonderful that the CDOT worker found them when he was looking over the guardrail."

At this time of year, temperatures are cool and were dropping down to near freezing levels during the night. Somehow or other Mohr was able to survive six days beside the body of his friend without any food to sustain himself. Neither did he have warm clothes against the cold.

"They didn't have any food in there that I saw," Brocious said. "I just think he had an angel looking over his shoulder."

The two men were reported missing when they didn't return from a trip to Cripple Creek, a historic Rocky Mountain mining town now popular for its casinos.

[caption id="attachment_72217" align="aligncenter" width="634"] Dead: the body of Ronald Mohr, pictured here in a photograph released by the Fremont County Sheriff's office, lay for six days next to friend Richard Koester, who survived the truck crash. Mohr was driving the truck that crashed near Denver Colorado
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On The Web:

Truck wreck victim survives six nights beside friend's body, officials say
http://usnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/10/19/21032089-truck-wreck-victim-survives-six-nights-beside-friends-body-officials-say?lite

Colorado man found in truck 6 days after crash
http://www.kfvs12.com/story/23731969/colorado-man-found-in-truck-6-days-after-crash