‘He was our baby’: Family speaks on legacy of 19-year-old marine from Colorado

CHAFFEE COUNTY, Colo. (KRDO) -- Hundreds packed into the Buena Vista High School gym Sunday afternoon, to honor and remember 19-year-old Private First Class Christopher Hutchings.

While the U.S. Marine Corps pronounced Hutchings dead on Feb. 5 in his barracks at Camp Pendleton in Southern California, his home is in Buena Vista, Colorado. Residents lined sections of Highway 290 and 285, making it known that the 19-year-old's life will always be remembered in their city.

Buena Vista Police (BVPD) led the procession for Hutchings, leaving from the Chaffee County Sheriff's Office and traveling along State Highway 291 and US Highway 285 before arriving at Buena Vista High School, where Hutchings graduated in 2022.

According to a spokesperson with the Naval Criminal Investigative Service (NCIS), the agency is conducting a "thorough investigation into the death of Private First Class Christopher Hutchings."

"It's (been) a huge impact on our family, a huge loss, especially as hard as he worked," Hutchings' aunt, Joetta Martinez said. "I know that he wanted to see his family again."

The spokesperson for the NCIS says the agency conducts an investigation in response to "any non-combat, medically unattended fatalities of Department of the Navy service members."

However, because the investigative process is ongoing, NCIS said they will provide no further comment.

Meanwhile, the family is choosing to remember Hutchings' and his legacy.

"According to the Marines, he's a brother. Once a Marine, always a Marine. So that touches us deeply," Martinez added.