“It just hurt more than anything else.” Family holds memorial ride, still looking for answers in killing of mountain biker

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (KRDO)-- Five years ago Saturday, Tim Watkins' body was found off the Limbaugh Trail near Mount Herman Road. An autopsy determined Watkins had been shot and killed, and the case was ruled a homicide by the El Paso County Sheriff's Office. The sheriff's office says investigators have no active leads, and Watkins' family still is left with no answers.

Saturday, over 25 family and friends gathered for a bike ride near the Tim Watkins memorial, located by the Palmer Lake Library in Palmer Lake.

Many friends and family had a piece of Tim with them on their bike ride, a special charm Tim made many of his friends and loved ones.

Tim's brother, David Watkins, said he was very close with his brother, and the bike ride is a way to remember him the right way.

"It's a spirit of his friendship and the young people like his daughter and their kids and then all the people that are here today that rode with him, it's the spirit of, like, just keeping his memories alive," Watkins said.

Ginger Chase-Watkins, Tim's wife, told KRDO that he went missing on her birthday. She never thought that would be the last time she would talk or kiss Tim goodbye.

"It was not enough time with him," she added.

Sunday would have been their seventh wedding anniversary.

Tim's daughter, Arielle Watkins-West, recounts the day she lost her father. A day she said she can never forget, as she still feels the pain of that horrific day five years later.

"It felt like the world crumbled in on itself and that my light in my life just disappeared. I've never felt a more painful, harsh reality than when somebody told me that my dad was found killed," Watkins-West said.

The Watkins family is still demanding answers.

"El Paso County Sheriff's haven't been really in touch with us about bringing it to CBI or Cold Case. So if the public can help us make his case not forgotten, make sure that we bring his attention to this case and get it solved," Watkins-West continued.

KRDO reached out to the El Paso County Sheriff's Office for an interview about the case. The sheriff's office declined.