Roll of Honor
Incident
Officer Ryan Cunningham was killed after falling from a 60-foot highway overpass while avoiding being struck by a semi.
He and another officer were investigating an accident at 5 am on I-70 at Vail Pass, which was icy at the time. The two officers ran to the shoulder of the overpass as a tractor-trailer lost control to avoid being hit. Officer Cunningham jumped over the rail and fell to the ground below. The other officer, who stayed on the bridge, was uninjured.
Officer Cunningham had served with the Vail Police Department for 16 months.
Survivors
He is survived by his wife and infant daughter.
In Our Keeping
- Permanent identifier
BO-US-CO-2B603AAD- Stewardship
- Maintained by NeuraWeb Global Inc.
- Added to badge.nw
- April 2, 2026
- Last updated
- July 23, 2026
Honored here by 1 sentinel - 1 tribute.
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Tributes
You barely got started.
Police Officer Cunningham gave the Vail Police Department 1 year.
Thank you for your service to the Vail community. Gone but never to be forgotten.
Rest easy, Police Officer Cunningham.
— S. Vincent Anthony, U.S. Army 1985-1993
Agency
Service Record
Incident Details
Police Officer Ryan Jay Cunningham is one of 10,088 officers lost to accidents in the line of duty across the full record of this memorial — 31% of all 32,508 officers honored here.
In CO, 101 of 360 officers were lost to accidents in the line of duty — 28.1% of this state's fallen. That is 2.9 percentage points below the national rate of 31%.
National Cause Distribution
How Accident compares to all causes of officer death in the memorial record. Ryan Jay Cunningham's cause is highlighted.
How Ryan Jay Cunningham Compares
When Accident Deaths Occur
Monthly distribution of Accident deaths across the full memorial record. Ryan Jay Cunningham is highlighted in May.