The Larimer County Coroner says 50-year-old Chuck Cullum, Jr. of Lyons died as a result of multiple blunt force trauma after the small plane he was flying crashed. His death was ruled an accident.
Cullum's ex-wife, Beth Cullum, says her former husband was a very giving man who owned his own small business, DNI Heating and Air Conditioning in Lyons.
"If he was at a job and the people couldn't afford to pay him, he would take jelly or something," Beth Cullum told 9Wants to Know.
Beth Cullum said authorities found her ex-husband's wallet at the scene of the plane crash. They later identified him through fingerprints.
Investigators told her there was extensive damage to the plane due to a fire, she said. The tail number on the plane, N200EP, matched the number on her former husband's plane.
"He was a Christian who traveled to Ukraine to do missionary work twice," Beth Cullum told 9Wants to Know. "He was very giving and died too young."
Chuck Cullum coached little league baseball in Lyons for about 15 years and only stopped when his three boys got into high school, Beth Cullum said.
She and her husband had been married for 25 years and were working to get back together, she said.
The Cessna 210 went down in a rugged, mountainous area about 2:45 p.m. just west of Berthoud on Monday.
The FAA says the plane was built in 1962 and was a fixed-wing single-engine plane.
The NTSB and FAA responded to the crash.
The crash caused a small wildfire about two acres in size. Firefighters quickly got it under control Monday afternoon.
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