Andrew Porter and Ian Stasko.

A search for two missing elk hunters ended in heartbreak last week, after their bod!es were discovered deep in the Colorado wilderness—victims of a freak lightning strike that ended their lives in a split second.

Tragedy on the Rio de los Pinos Trail

Andrew Porter and Ian Stasko, both just 25, vanished without a trace while hunting in the remote Rio de los Pinos trailhead—a rugged stretch of National Forest in Conejos County. For seven agonizing days, loved ones clung to hope as search and rescue teams combed the forests and mountains by land and air.

But the truth, when it came, was both shocking and brutally final.

Conejos County Coroner Richard Martin confirmed the pair d!ed instantly when a bolt of lightning struck the ground near where they sheltered beneath a tree. “That kind of d3ath is just instant,” Martin told the Colorado Sun. “It’s like you’re alive and now you’re not. Just that quick. Split second.”

elk hunters who were found dead in the Colorado wilderness after vanishing for a week were killed by a lightning bolt, according to the local coroner.

Discovered Under a Tree—With Only ‘Slight Burns’

The two young men were found together, their bod!es bearing only “slight burns”—the kind, Martin described, “like if you take a match and stick it on your arm.” There were just “two or three” such marks, a hauntingly subtle sign of the violent force that took their lives.

Full autopsy results will take weeks, but the coroner is confident in his preliminary findings. “I’m telling you, that’s what it was,” he said. The lightning bolt spared them any suffering—d3ath was instantaneous.

Last Contact Before the Storm

Porter’s last communication came just after 3 p.m. on September 11, when he sent his location to his fiancée, Bridget Murphy, via satellite device. That signal pinged from his car near the trailhead—then, silence.

As storms rolled in the following day, searchers feared the worst. Porter’s aunt, Lynne Runkle, theorized the pair had been “caught off guard” by the sudden weather—a suspicion tragically confirmed.

“He Was in the Wrong Spot at the Wrong Time”

Murphy, shattered by the loss, shared her grief in a heartbreaking Facebook post: “It is OFFICIAL, that a lightning strike to the ground took them in an instant. They didn’t do anything wrong, they didn’t feel fear or pain… He was an experienced outdoorsman, who was in the wrong spot at the wrong time.”

Murphy described Porter as her husband in all but name, her partner for years. “I wish I had 30 more. I sure feel like a widow. I sure feel like my future is blank now,” she wrote.

The two seasoned outdoorsmen died instantly, though Martin has yet to determine the exact time of death.

Doing What They Loved—A “Bizarre, Horrific Act of Nature”
What comforts those left behind is knowing Porter and Stasko d!ed doing what they loved, “well prepared and equipped,” Murphy said. “This is a bizarre horrific act of nature. It could’ve happened anywhere, to anyone.”

A Community in Mourning
The tragedy has stunned the outdoor community and left two families grappling with unimaginable loss. As the investigation continues, one thing is clear: nature’s beauty can be unforgiving, and sometimes, fate is as random as a bolt from the blue.