A 92-year-old man may have died when a homemade explosive went off in his house, leading Chaffee County Sheriff’s Office investigators to find a large cache of explosive devices and chemicals used for their manufacture, a sheriff’s spokesman said Sunday.

Edwin Bartheld’s body was found Friday in the crawl space of his home in Turret, 13 miles north of Salida, but he may have been dead for up to a week, Commander Derek Bos said.

Sheriff’s investigators were called to Bartheld’s home about 3:30 p.m. Friday after one of his friends, who had not heard from Bartheld or seen him for several days, found the man’s body.

Deputies initially believed Bartheld may have died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound, but finding the explosives shifted the investigation, Bos said. The house was evacuated, and assistance from the Colorado Springs Regional Explosives Unit and two hazmat teams was requested.

On Saturday, the bomb squad and hazmat teams entered Bartheld’s house and found large quantities of homemade detonators, explosives and chemicals commonly used for manufacturing bombs. The explosives were removed and detonated safely while the hazmat team tested the chemicals at the residence to determine if they were stable enough to be transported.

“There’s really no way to say how many explosive devices had been built or how many were in the process of being manufactured,” Bos said. “But there was quite a large amount of chemicals, parts, tools and other materials for bomb making.”

After examining Bartheld’s body, Bos said, investigators determined he may have died when one of his homemade explosives went off accidentally.

“There was some damage in the crawl space consistent with an explosion, and we believe that was what killed him, but the coroner will make all final determinations following an autopsy scheduled for Monday,” Bos said.

According to a statement from the Chaffee County Sheriff’s Office released Sunday, investigators may have found a motive for Bartheld’s actions, but the case remained under investigation.

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Contact Andrea Sinclair: 636-0235

Twitter @GazetteAndrea