The unexpected pelicans of Colorado hold a special meaning for an award-winning wildlife photographer.

Places like Sloan's Lake are an oasis for wildlife, generally protected and left alone. While visitors on a morning walk might expect to see red-winged blackbirds or geese, they might have to squint to believe the white birds on the water are pelicans.

"I'd say, aren't they by the ocean?" Mystica Flurry said.

Watch Mike Castellucci's report in the player below:

Flurry is visiting from the California coast.

"I feel like I've seen them, but then I say, 'Why, there's no ocean?!'" Flurry said.

When it comes to capturing wildlife, Wendy Shattil is one of the world's best. She's won the Wildlife Photographer of the Year, a global award.

"You can see the teeth marks from a beaver. It's nice that the park leaves things like this because it's very natural," Shattil said.

Shattil and her husband, Bob Rosinski, started shooting pictures together 30 years ago. They clicked.

"We lived wildlife photography 24/7," Shattil said. "The way we photographed together and our points of view, that was unique enough for us to pay the bills and be pretty comfortable in a field that is difficult to depend on for your income."

One of their early shots stuck with both of them.

"[We] considered it the only dancing pelican in the world and so special that's what our website was named after," Shattil said.

When Denver7 found Shattil, we had already seen her work. What we didn't know was how much what pelicans meant to her, until she took us to Cherry Creek Reservoir and a short walk to a bench.

"Every time I come to Cherry Creek I stop for a bit, 'cause it's a nice place to stop anyway, so what the heck," Shattil said. "This is Bob's bench. One of his favorite places to shoot at Cherry Creek. It's too long of a story to say why. We were together for 36 years and married a week."

This is where Rosinski's friends gathered for his memorial 11 years ago after he passed away from prostate cancer.

"He did not like going to the doctor," Shattil said.

His bench has a plaque featuring their dancing pelican.

"It seemed quite appropriate to put his favorite pelican photo in part of it. It's a happy pelican as well," Shattil said.

Shattil can find pelicans in Colorado from lakes to reservoirs.

"I scouted this yesterday and check on the areas I expected them to be," Shattil said. "They're pretty lazy."

But sometimes, stories change. In this case, it shifted from trying to find pelicans in Colorado to knowing where the most important one is for Shattil.

"I can guarantee we'll see a pelican anytime of the year, because of the one on the bench," Shattil said.

This story was reported on-air by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.

DENVER Its been three years since a suspect killed two employees at the American Elm restaurant in Denvers West Highlands neighborhood, but police have yet to develop leads that will advance their investigation.

Ignacio "Nacho" Gutierrez, 58, a cook at American Elm, and Emerall Vaughn-Dahler, 34, a manager, were found dead inside the restaurant in the afternoon of April 24, 2023.

American Elm closed for several days after the incident and reopened on Mothers Day 2023.

In April 2023, Denver7 spoke with Yarely Hernandez, a close friend of Gutierrez who saw him two days before his death.

"He was loving, he was very respectful, very responsible. Just a good person, a good, good person," Hernandez said of her friend. "To whoever did this, you took a son, a father, a friend."

In 2024, Denver7 sat down with Vaughn-Dahler's husband, Andrew Dahler. At the time, Andrew said he had no answers about what led to their deaths.

"They're still trying to find out if there was any sort of motivation behind it, whether it was money or personal or anything like that. They still can't determine that," Andrew said at the time. "We would believe that it's random based on the simple fact that both Emerall and Ignacio didn't really have any enemies, and they were trying to, they would always try to help out everyone that they knew."

Read our previous coverage below:

In a bulletin issued Friday, Metro Denver Crime Stoppers said the killer has still not been identified after three years.

The families of Emerall and Ignacio continue to live with unimaginable loss and are still searching, still hoping, and still asking for answers, the bulletin reads.

Investigators are looking to speak with anyone who was near the 4100 block of West 38th Avenue between 10 a.m. and noon on April 24, 2023.

Authorities are offering a reward of $32,600 for information that leads to an arrest. Denver authorities credited "overwhelming community support" for the high reward.

Anyone with information is asked to call Metro Denver Crime Stoppers at 720-913-7867. Tipsters can remain anonymous.

Even the smallest detail could be the key to finally solving this case, Denver police said.

DENVER - The University of Denver Men's Hockey team secured its 11th NCAA National Championship after a major comeback win over Wisconsin.

Students waited more than 40 minutes of game time for the Pioneers to get on the board. After falling behind early, Denver scored midway through the third period, sparking a celebration that never stopped. The momentum carried the team to another national title.

In the video player below, Denver7's Tyler Melito explains why right now is a great time to be a sports fan in Denver.

Proud may be an understatement for how University of Denver students feel about the men's hockey team. Fans packed into the Pioneer, with some arriving as early as 10:00 a.m. Saturday to secure their spot.

"I got here about 10 o'clock as well," said DU Senior Nick Savage. "I was the fifth person in here today."

"I got here around 12, I had to wait two hours," shared Junior Harry Galiardo. "There's no place I'd rather be. Everyone comes together here. It's the best feeling."

Before the game, students reminisced about the last time the Pioneers won the championship in 2024.

"I'm a tour guide at school, so I talk about the camaraderie around doing our hockey games, and my favorite thing to say is how when we won the championship two years ago, it was the most exciting thing I've ever done in my life," shared Senior Capen Ades.

Despite the crowds, students were thrilled to watch the game together.

"It is packed out, for sure, but everyone here is just so happy,so excited to see DU hockey play a game," said Junior Zac Bly

Griffin Young saw the Pioneers win the national championship in person in 2024, and he made sure not to miss the campus celebration this time around.

"What I heard from my peers was being here in person on campus was the best experience these guys had as a college student," Young explained. "I wanted that experience, and I'm getting that experience."

And just because DU doesn't dominate the headlines in sports like football or basketball, doesn't make it any less of a sports school, students say.

"I think that DU sometimes doesn't seem like the most crazy social school, but we are bigger than any SEC school, any other school in the world when it comes to hockey," Savage detailed. "This bar is just one example of that."

While the athletes are now campus celebrities and will go down in history,

"I think we had a great season, and I'm proud of my friends," said Senior Andrew French. "I know people that I know that are on the team."

Affording a college degree is a challenge for some Coloradans, but now the University of Denver has a new program that could help.

DU is officially launching the states first reduced-credit bachelors degree to help students finish faster and at a lower cost.

We should see savings, both in terms of cost and in terms of time, depending on how a student chooses to fund their education, DU College of Professional Studies Dean Bobbie Kite said.

DU said this program is aimed mainly at older adults and students who have already started college but want a quicker way to get their degree.

"Our average age student for the Bachelor's completion program that we have now is 38 so this is a student who started school, and a little bit here and there, and they're just ready to finish that out so they can get that next promotion or a career progression," Kite said.

The Accelerated Bachelors of Professional Studies cuts required credits from 180 down to 136 quarter hours. That will save students about a year in time to graduate, depending on transfer credits.

It could be as quickly as about a year and a half or a year. It could extend to about two and a half to three years. In our Bachelor's completion program, we do see most students completing between two and a half and three years, Kite said.

When it comes to money, DU said each credit hour is around $600. So, this program could save students more than $26,000, at the highest, for a degree, depending on where they are at in their credits and degree path.

Because we're a Bachelor's completion program. It really depends on how many credits they're transferring in, but you're thinking about a degree that is about a year less, Kite said.

The university said financial aid will still be available.

University leaders said they know more students are questioning the cost and time commitment of higher education.

When students are going to plan out their career now, they're in a different situation than they were 10 or 15 years ago. So, they are looking to finish faster. They are looking to have less out of pocket cost, Kite said.

But DU said employers are still prioritizing career-ready skills and college degrees.

When employers think about what's coming from a Bachelor's degree, they're kind of seeing just Bachelor's degree. What they're really interested in is to know that that employee that's coming to them is career ready, Kite said.

The program is set to launch this fall beginning with a degree in Information Technology. There are plans to expand into other fields next year.

I think it's a response to the market demand. We've been moving in this direction of career readiness and aligning the degrees more and more with what employers are looking for, while integrating the things that come with a traditional education and it's just kind of come together, Kite said.

Only about 60 colleges nationwide offer this type of program and DU is the first in Colorado. The state Department of Education is considering similar programs at other public universities in the future.

The University of Denver is excited to be the first educational institution in the State of Colorado to offer this, Kite said.

For more information on the reduced-credit degree program, click here.

DENVER Community members in Denver's Sloans Lake neighborhood are pushing for a $40 million investment to help improve the lake.

They hope the restoration project will be included in Mayor Mike Johnstons Vibrant Denver bond initiative, which voters will consider this fall. The bond initiative could total more than $800 million.

Once home to an amusement park, a beach, and even a boardwalk reminiscent of Atlantic City, Sloans Lake has a rich past. But today, the lake faces mounting environmental challenges.

Sloans Lake is only about three feet deep on average, said Kurt Weaver, who leads the Sloans Lake Park Foundation, a nonprofit that advocates for the lake. In a 177-acre lake, thats a huge problem. The water tends to not have enough oxygen and stagnates very quickly. Its why you see things like fish kills in the summer, unfortunately.

Denver7 has reported on issues impacting the lake. Read our previous coverage below:

Weaver said the lakes deterioration isnt always visible to the average person driving or walking by, but its significant. His group is pushing the city to fund a shoreline restoration project that would help reduce erosion and improve water quality.

Certainly, the Vibrant Bond is an opportunity for us to put together some significant dollars to start the process, Weaver said. Taking care of a lake this size is not an inexpensive project, and so when programs like the Vibrant Bond come up with Denver, it's a great opportunity for us to then get a large project that's difficult to get done.

The proposed restoration is just one of hundreds of pitches submitted from across Denver as neighborhoods vie for a piece of the bond funding. Submissions range from improvements to art centers and theaters to new roadway projects. An executive committee appointed by Johnston is now reviewing the proposals, prioritizing those that are shovel-ready.

The idea is that we do this over the next six years that we get these projects done, that we get them launched and going, said Jon Ewing, a spokesperson for the mayors office.

In the coming weeks, the committee will deliver its recommendations to the mayor and the Denver City Council. The finalized list will then be presented to voters this fall.

For advocates like Weaver, the hope is that city leaders and ultimately, voters see the value in preserving Sloans Lake.

We want this amazing gem thats been here since 1861 to be here for another 150 years, Weaver said.

To learn more about the Vibrant Denver bond initiative, click here.