Exclusive: Man Who Spotted Doughertys Credits God & Awareness

One of men who spotted the Dougherty brothers and sister, and set that final chase into motion says, “God puts people in certain places at certain times for a reason.”

Jim Hartman, a retired state trooper, took KRDO Newschannel 13 back to the to spot where he and retired wildlife officer Mark Reeves spotted the Dougherty trio camping.

It’s off highway 165 near Bishop’s Castle.

“And as we came around the corner we could see the front end of the vehicle,” he told us, ” and just looking in there we could see it was white Subaru that to me seemed to match the one I’d seen in the pictures,” says Hartman.

It was a wide spot off Highway 165, a trailhead, not a campground. “You know there’s a lot of people parked in here on weekends and take the trail, but rarely ever see anybody with a tent,” he says, “and that more than anything kind of caught my attention.”

He and Reeves drove 9 miles to get cell phone reception and call it in. Hartman called state police, while Reeves called a Pueblo County Deputy he knows who lives off Highway 165.

The gang was then spotted by a Pueblo County detective at a gas station at Highway 165 & I-25. That’s where the chase started.

Hartman remains modest about being one of the men who helped lead police to the Doughertys. “God puts people in places at times for reasons, I think it’s a matter of just being observant and aware of what’s going on around you,” he says.