A man wearing a red jacket with “Ski Patrol” written in permanent marker followed a girl at a Colorado ski area, police said.

The man impersonating a ski patroller followed a girl from a ski run last week at Copper Mountain, a ski resort about 75 miles west of Denver, the Summit County Sheriff’s Office said Jan. 27.

“The unidentified adult male was wearing a red jacket with ‘Ski Patrol’ written poorly on the outside, in what appeared to be Sharpie marker,” deputies said in a news release.

The man followed the girl across the ski resort from the Center Village to the East Village, officials said. She was then able to elude him.

The incident was reported to the sheriff’s office on Tuesday, Jan. 25. Deputies opened an investigation after receiving the report and are searching for the man.

“The odds of solving a case can drop by 50% in the first 48 hours after a crime is committed,” Summit County Sheriff Jaime FitzSimons said in the news release. “Therefore it is imperative to any investigation that both victims and witnesses report a crime to law enforcement immediately.”

Officials ask that anyone who has information contact the Summit County Sheriff’s Office.

Copper Mountain told Fox 31 that its ski patrollers wear black pants and red coats. The resort logo is visible on the uniform and name tags.

“All on-mountain personnel have been notified of the incident and the description of the individual,” the resort told FOX 31. “Copper Mountain takes the incident very seriously and is conducting an internal investigation.”

https://www.summitcountyco.gov/CivicAlerts.aspx?AID=890 – Emergency Alert

Weather experts are urging people to stay home if possible starting Wednesday night as a winter storm is forecast to dump up to 1.25 inches of rain on Monroe County, followed by up to 2 inches of sleet and up to 8 inches of snow.

“It’s going to be a very impactful storm,” said Sam Lashley, warning coordination meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Indianapolis.

The NWS expects rain to switch to freezing rain and sleet sometime Wednesday afternoon to evening. For much of Wednesday night through Thursday, Monroe County will see a mix of freezing rain, sleet and snow.

Lashley told The Herald-Times parts of the county could see sleet accumulations of up to 2 inches, which is rare.

He urged people to avoid travel starting Wednesday evening.

“It’s going to be a mess through the end of the day Thursday,” he said. “Staying at home is the best course of action.”

Precipitation will switch to snow Thursday morning and will be heavy at times, along with strong wind and gusts of up to 30 mph, Lashley said.

He projected snowfall of 6-8 inches, with the larger accumulation expected for northern parts of the county.

Temperatures are expected to drop into the single digits Friday night into Saturday. Lashley said the low temperatures will quickly harden the snow, which, accompanied by the earlier freezing rain and sleet, will make shoveling difficult.

“It’s not going to be an easy system to deal with,” he said.

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The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is warning Americans against traveling to Mexico along with nearly a dozen other destinations, adding the vacation hotspot to its highest travel advisory list.

The agency classified Mexico as a “Level 4” destination, indicating there is a “very high” level of COVID-19 transmission in the country and telling Americans they should not travel there. If people do decide to head to Mexico, the CDC recommended they be fully vaccinated and “up to date with your COVID-19 vaccines before travel.”

In addition to Mexico, the CDC classified Anguilla, Brazil, Chile, Ecuador, French Guiana, Kosovo, Moldova, Paraguay, Saint Vincent, the Grenadines, Singapore, and the Philippines under its highest travel warning, which the agency updates on a weekly basis.

Destinations are classified as “Level 4” if they report more than 500 COVID-19 cases per 100,000 people over the last 28 days. Currently, there are 128 destinations classified as “Level 4,” including popular spots like Canada, St. Barths, Aruba, Spain, Italy, and France.

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Federal health authorities on Monday warned against travel to 15 countries and territories, including Costa Rica, the United Arab Emirates and five Caribbean destinations, because of “very high” risk levels of coronavirus.

By issuing Level 4 advisories, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said that “even fully vaccinated travelers may be at risk for getting and spreading COVID-19 variants” in those locales. The new additions expand a list of more than 100 destinations to receive the agency’s highest travel warning.

In the Caribbean, the CDC urged people to “avoid travel” to Jamaica, Saint Barthelemy, the Dominican Republic and two island territories of France: Guadeloupe and Saint Martin. The agency also issued its highest coronavirus warning for Peru, Colombia, Fiji, Kuwait, Mongolia, Niger, Romania and Tunisia.

Monday’s alerts deal with some of the most popular beach destinations for Americans. According to federal travel data, more than 4.6 million U.S. citizens traveled to the Caribbean from January through September last year. That exceeds the number of U.S. visitors to any other overseas region, including all of Europe.

Other Caribbean tourist spots designated as highest-risk include the Bahamas, Barbados and Sint Maarten, which is part of the Netherlands and on the same island as Saint Martin.

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