24-year-old Marine visiting family dies from skiing accident, Colorado officials say
.png "A 24-year-old Marine died from a skiing accident in Colorado, officials said.")
A 24-year-old Marine died after she suffered head injuries in a skiing accident, Colorado officials said.
On Dec. 24, Jessie Mello was visiting her family in Mesa County when she had a skiing accident on Powderhorn Mountain Resort and suffered head injuries, according to a Jan. 17 Facebook post by the Mesa County Coroner’s Office.
Mello was a sergeant in the U.S. Marine Corps, a multi-sport athlete, a black belt and an “incredible daughter, sister, and friend to everyone she encountered,” according to her obituary.
“There are no words to express how deeply she will be missed. Jessie was one of a kind and one of the most incredible humans on the planet. She was smart, determined, honest (sometimes brutally), competitive, inspiring, beautiful inside and out, with the kindest most generous soul,” Glacia Peck said in a Jan. 5 Facebook post.
As of Jan. 2, Mello was still in the ICU, according to a Facebook post by her father, Eric Mello.
She died on Jan. 5 from her head injuries, the coroner’s office said.
“She had a ton of ambition and fight in her. and brought the bright side out of everyone. Jessie was a great person and will forever be missed,” one of Mello’s friends, Liam Foy, said in a Jan. 11 Facebook post.
Mesa County is about a 260-mile drive southwest of Denver.
This story was originally published January 17, 2025 at 4:46 PM with the headline "24-year-old Marine visiting family dies from skiing accident, Colorado officials say."