A lightning strike in the Rio Grande National Forest killed hunters Andrew Porter and Ian Stesko, Conejos County Coroner Richard Martin ruled on Monday. The two out-of-state hunters were in the South San Juan Wilderness area of Rio Grande National Forest looking for elk when a thunderstorm passed through the area and killed them instantly.
“It was immediate,” Martin said in a telephone interview with Alamosa Citizen. He said it appeared they were standing near each other under a tree when lightning hit and tipped them over and landed them on their backs.
The bodies were found seven days after families of the hunters reported Porter and Stesko missing to Costilla County authorities on Sept. 11. Martin said the two hunters, both 25, were the first to be killed by lightning in the county that he’s investigated in his 20 years as coroner.
The bodies were in good condition when Colorado Search and Rescue volunteers found them on Sept. 18, Martin said. They were discovered two miles from the Rio De Los Pinos trailhead on the Colorado side of the San Juan Wilderness area, according to Conejos County Sheriff Garth Crowther.
Martin said the two hunters were in camouflage laying down in a lightly wooded area.
“It is very unfortunate and very lucky to find them,” Martin said.
Here is the original story: Search is on for missing hunters in Rio Grande National Forest