Two hunters, Andrew Porter and Ian Stasko, both 25 years old, were found dead in the remote wilderness of southern Colorado a week after they disappeared during an elk hunting trip, according to authorities. The pair were discovered by Colorado search and rescue teams on Thursday, a week after their last known contact on Sept. 11, as shared by Porter’s aunt, Lynne Runkle, on a GoFundMe page set up to aid the search.
Runkle expressed her grief on the fundraising page, confirming the tragic news that both men had been found deceased. She urged people to keep the families of the young men in their thoughts and prayers. The bodies of the two friends were discovered around 11 a.m., approximately two miles from the Rio de los Pinos trailhead, a secluded area in the National Forest characterized by steep ridgelines and dense timber, as per a press release from the Conejos County Sheriff’s Office.
The bodies bore no apparent signs of trauma, as reported by CBS News. The official cause of death is yet to be established. Porter, a resident of Asheville, North Carolina, and Stasko, from Salt Lake City, Utah, were hunting in Colorado’s Game Management Unit 81, a rugged wilderness area that extends to the New Mexico border.
Runkle had previously speculated in the fundraiser that severe storms that swept through the area on Thursday evening may have caught the young men off guard. Porter had last shared his location via a satellite device with his fiancée, Bridget Murphy, after 3 p.m. on Sept. 11. The device had last pinged from his car near the trailhead.
Murphy, in a phone interview, expressed her belief that the pair had briefly returned to Stasko’s vehicle to change out of wet clothes, based on gear found by deputies. The absence of hunting equipment from the car led her to believe they had ventured back out.
Murphy also shared that both men were experienced outdoorsmen, having built shelters in the woods for fun since they were 12. She revealed that there was a confirmed sighting of the men with their car at the Spruce Hole trailhead on the previous Friday morning. The men had reportedly told a person that they had spotted a bull moose and were heading out to find it. The car was later moved back to the Rio de los Pinos trailhead, a detail that gave Murphy hope.
In the days following their disappearance, an extensive ground and air search was launched involving multiple rescue teams. Murphy had previously expressed her gratitude for the support and asked for prayers for the safe return of the men.