Two 25 year-old elk hunters reported missing in the San Juan Wilderness Area of southwest Colorado have been found dead, according to reporting from a North Carolina-based FOX affiliate and a local media outlet out of Charlottesville, Virginia. As Field & Stream reported yesterday , Andrew Porter and Ian Stasko were reported missing after leaving a trailhead in the San Juan Wilderness Area sometime during the afternoon of September 11. The news of their reported death broke after a family member posted an update on a GoFundMe page set up to benefit the missing men.
"It is with a broken heart and through tears that I give you this update,"," wrote GoFundMe organizer Lynn Runkle, who identified herself as Andrew Porter's aunt, from Greenbriar Heights, Virginia. "Andrew and Ian have both been found deceased. Their bodies were discovered earlier today by Colorado Search and Rescue. I will provide another update tomorrow."
A spokesperson for the the Conejos County Sheriffs Office would neither confirm nor deny the reports when contacted by Field & Stream. According to Charlottesville Right Now, other hunters said they encountered Porter and Stasko on the morning of Sept. 12. "The missing men said they had spotted a large bull," cvillerightnow.com reports, "and had headed back out to track the animal."
There were over 54 search and rescue teams looking for the men as of Wednesday, Sept. 17. "Each team is made up of three to four individuals either on foot or on horseback," authorities said in a press release. "We also have numerous drones flying the area combined with Flight for Life, Classic and a personally owned Black Hawk Helicopter."
The vehicle that the hunters drove to the Rio De Los Pines Trailhead was found with camping gear and backpacks still inside. The fact that the missing hunters left their overnight gear in the car prompted concern from responding deputies, the release states, due to heavy rains and recent bad weather in the area.
In a Sept. 15 Facebook post, Porter's finance, Bridget Murphy, said the men were hunting in Game Unit 81 when their satellite devices stopped emitting signals. "While they are experienced hunters, bad cold storms and fog came in quickly and continuously until Sunday morning," she wrote. "A lot of their gear is still in their car at the trailhead, as we assume they probably thought they were going out for a quick evening hunt with clear weather. They are both 6’ fit men, with dirty blonde and light brown hair."
The Rio Grande National Forest is vast—spanning some 1.8 million acres that encircle southwest Colorado's San Luis Valley. Stasko and Porter were hunting in the San Juan Mountains, somewhere to the west of the Trujillo Meadows Reservoir, according to official reports. The area is known for rugged and difficult terrain, and its large elk herds attract scores of resident and non-resident hunters every year.
