Daily Casefile · Verdict
Tracks in the Fresh Powder
≈ 9 min
On the morning of Saturday 14 March 2026, resort supervisor Dana Keetch discovered that fourteen day-pass cards from batch DA-311 were unaccounted for: they had been printed, logged, and sealed into the morning courier pouch, but never arrived at the lift-pass booth. Surveillance covering the main corridor was offline for maintenance that morning, leaving no direct footage. Troy Halden was the only corral attendant on shift during the window when the pouch went missing. The prosecution contends Halden intercepted the pouch, removed the passes, and sold them individually to arriving skiers at a discount; Halden denies ever entering the staff locker corridor and claims he was outside in the equipment corral for his entire shift. The jury must decide: did Halden steal the lift passes, and whose testimony is the anchor of this verdict?
Subject
Troy Halden, part-time equipment corral attendant at Avalanche Peak Ski Resort
Charged with Theft of lift passes — removing pre-printed day-pass cards from the sealed morning batch in the staff locker corridor and selling them to skiers outside the resort's official booth
The scene
Avalanche Peak Ski Resort, a mid-sized alpine ski area in Colorado, present day — comprising a base lodge with a staffed rental desk, a lift-pass printing booth, a locked staff locker corridor, and an outdoor equipment corral behind the main building.
The witnesses
- Dana Keetch — Resort Supervisor, Avalanche Peak Ski Resort
- Renata Santos — Ski Patrol Volunteer, stationed at the base of the gondola
- Carl Figueroa — Day visitor, arrived at Avalanche Peak at approximately 08:20 on 14 March
- Becca Halden — Troy Halden's younger sister; works in the resort rental shop two buildings away
Play today’s Verdict.
This case first aired on October 6, 2026. A fresh verdict runs every morning — same rules, five minutes, one solution.