The two 25-year-old hunters missing for a week in the Rio Grande National Forest were found dead by Colorado Search and Rescue Thursday, according to an update from the hunters’ family. There is no word on their causes of death. The family said it will be providing another update on Friday.
Andrew Porter and Ian Stesko were first declared missing on the evening of Sept. 11 when a final satellite ping came from one of their Garmin InReaches at the Rios De Los Pinos trailhead. On Wednesday, Porter’s fiancée, Bridget Murphy, said that the two men were spotted by other hunters on the morning of Friday, Sept. 12 at a nearby trailhead.
The Conejos County Sheriff’s Office said Thursday evening that their bodies were found two miles from the Rio De Los Pinos trailhead.
Both men were described as being avid and resourceful outdoorsmen.
The two may have been caught in “nightmare” weather as a thunderstorm rolled through the area the evening of Sept. 11.
The families of the men issued a public alert on Wednesday, Sept. 17, and offered a $10,000 reward for help in finding them. That same day, Alamosa Volunteer Search and Rescue, alongside Colorado Search and Rescue assets, were ordered for mutual aid assistance.
New Mexico Search and Rescue and La Plata Search and Rescue and dozens of volunteers assisted the Conejos County Sheriff’s Office with the search.
The men’s camping gear and backpacks were found in their car parked at the trailhead. Murphy said searchers found wet clothes in the car and that the bows and field dressing supplies were gone, leaving the family to believe the men returned to the car to change clothes and go back out to finish their hunt.
Their last satellite ping came at 3:39 p.m. on Sept. 11.
Bob Rodgers, a New Mexico Department of Public Safety Search and Rescue resource officer, told the Citizen Wednesday that searchers were working in a roughly 13.8-mile search area.
Conejos County Sheriff Garth Crowther said, “This search was made possible through the coordinated response of multiple resources including ground search and rescue teams, law enforcement teams, Forest Service crew, air support, canine units, horseback riders and the over 170 personnel who assisted in the search.”
ORIGINAL STORY • SEPT. 17,2025
Search is on for missing hunters in Rio Grande National Forest
More than 70 people on horseback, on foot and in helicopters looking for two men who last checked in with family on Sept. 11
The search for two hunters reported missing in the Rio Grande National Forest in Conejos County stretched into its sixth day Wednesday.
According to Conejos County Sheriff Garth Crowther, more than 70 people have been searching for Andrew Porter and Ian Stasko, both 25, who may have gotten caught up in a fast-moving thunderstorm that hit the area Sept. 11, when the hunters last reported in to family members.
The two hunters were first reported missing near the Rio De Los Pinos Trailhead in the Rio Grande National Forest in Conejos County. The last communication was sent in the early afternoon on Sept. 11 to Porter’s fiancée, Bridget Murphy, via his Garmin InReach.
An update from Murphy on Wednesday afternoon stated that Porter and Stasko were spotted on Friday, Sept. 12, at around 10 a.m. at the nearby Spruce Hole Trailhead by other hunters. The two then reportedly drove back to the Rio De Los Pinos trailhead where their vehicle currently sits.
Their last satellite ping was at 3:39 p.m. on Sept. 11.
Family of the men issued a public alert on Wednesday, Sept. 17, and offered a reward for help in finding the hunters.
The men’s gear was found in the car parked at the trailhead. This included their backpacks and camping gear. Murphy said they found wet clothes in the car and that the bows and field dressing supplies were gone.
A thunderstorm that one local called a “nightmare” swept through the area that evening. Crowther said the weather was “rainy with a lot of lightning.”
Conejos County Emergency Manager Rodney King told the Citizen that New Mexico Search and Rescue have been coordinating with them for the “last two days.” He also said “Colorado SAR should be arriving tomorrow (Thursday) to assist.”
Crowther also said that among the search and rescue assets involved are four helicopter teams, four dog teams, and locals on horseback and on foot.
The families of Porter and Stasko are offering $10,000 for information that leads to the rescue of the two men. They are calling on more people to assist with the search.
Murphy told the Colorado Sun that two men are resourceful outdoorsmen. “We now live in North Carolina,” she told them, “but when we were in Montana, we got into elk hunting and have experienced similar terrain, and Ian has come out to Montana to backcountry hunt with us before. And last year, Ian and Andrew went hunting for a month in the crazy mountains in Montana. So this is not some willy-nilly trip that they took. They are very prepared outdoorsmen.”
Bob Rodgers, a New Mexico Department of Public Safety Search and Rescue resource officer, told the Citizen that New Mexico search and rescue was requested by Sheriff Crowther the night of Monday, Sept. 15. Rodgers said he then deployed groups of ground technicians – “ground pounders” – K9 units and command personnel to assist with coordination.
Crowther, in a press release update on Wednesday said, “The search is continuing today with multiple resources active. The New Mexico State Police and La Plata County search and rescue teams along with volunteers from as far away as Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Wyoming and numerous other states and counties across the state, and the nation have and are responding.
“We have had over 54 teams of professionally trained search and rescue personnel mixed with volunteers in the field. Each team is made up of three to four individuals either on foot or on horseback. We also have numerous drones flying the area combined with Flight for Life, classic and a personally owned Black Hawk helicopter.”
According to public FlightRadar data, a Sikorsky UH-60A Black Hawk without a public tail number was flying in patterns over the search area. Data from Wednesday evening showed a Flight for Life helicopter flying patterns along with the Black Hawk.
The search area is roughly a 13.8-mile radius in the Rio Grande National Forest, Rodgers said.
“We’ll stay involved until we run out of resources,” Rodgers then noted that he’s been in contact with the Colorado Search and Rescue association who he said are sending assets down to Conejos County on Thursday.
An email was sent to CSAR to confirm this, but at the time of writing, the Citizen hasn’t received a response from the state agency. An AVSAR member familiar with the search effort confirmed to the Citizen that CSAR would be responding on Thursday.
According to the Conejos County sheriff’s office, Dolores County search and rescue has been requested and will arrive Thursday.
“Alamosa [Volunteer Search and Rescue] was asked but never responded,” Crowther told the Citizen via email Wednesday morning.
Alamosa Sheriff Robert Jackson told the Citizen that a call did come in to the regional dispatch center at around 9 p.m. on Saturday, Sept. 13, from the Conejos County Sheriff’s Office, but Jackson said rather than calling him or Undersheriff Shawn Woods, dispatch left a voicemail with an an AVSAR member who is no longer in a leadership position.
He said dispatch’s policy is to call the sheriff or undersheriff for search and rescue callouts. The current president of the team, Randy Ellis, wasn’t called and the dedicated phone line for AVSAR wasn’t contacted, either.
Jackson also said that Colorado State Patrol dispatch takes full responsibility for the communication error, but the call did in fact come in.
He eventually received a phone call Wednesday from King. He also said that as of Wednesday afternoon, AVSAR officials were in contact with Conejos County officials and coordinating mutual aid assistance.
In a later email from Conejos County public information officer Connie Ricci, she said, “Alamosa has been contacted and will be on site tomorrow.”