Cause of Death Revealed in Tragic Colorado Hunting Accident Involving Two 25-Year-Olds (Check In First comment)”
Conejos County Coroner Richard Martin told PEOPLE on Monday, Sept. 22, that preliminary findings show Andrew Porter and Ian Stasko, both 25, were struck by lightning. Their injuries matched what he described as “a pretty intense electrical jolt.”
“They had a few burnt marks, “like if you would take a match and strike it, and then wait until it’s about out and then touch it to your arm; there were just a couple of little marks like that,” Martin told PEOPLE. Full autopsy results confirming Stasko and Porter’s cause and manner of death are expected in about eight weeks.
Andrew Porter and Ian Stasko, both skilled outdoorsmen, were reported missing after a hunting trip in the Rio Grande National Forest in southern Colorado. Their bodies were discovered nearly a week later, family members confirmed on Thursday, Sept. 18. That same day, the Conejos County Sheriff’s Office said two unidentified men had been recovered from the Rio de Los Pinos Trailhead around 11 a.m. following an extensive search effort.
