Authorities probing the deaths of two elk hunters who were missing for roughly a week in the Rio Grande National Forest found no obvious injuries on their bodies or initial signs of foul play, the local coroner said Friday.
An investigation into what caused the deaths of Andrew Porter and Ian Stasko is ongoing, said Conejos County Coroner Richard Martin.
Autopsies were expected to be conducted Monday in El Paso County, Martin said.
Search and rescue teams found two unidentified bodies about 11 a.m. Thursday about 2 miles from the Rio de Los Pinos trailhead following a massive search effort.
Porter, of Asheville, North Carolina, and Stasko, of Salt Lake City, Utah, were last heard from Sept. 11 about 3 p.m. when Porter shared his location with his fiancée from his Garmin InReach satellite device.
Both were experienced outdoorsmen, Murphy previously told The Colorado Sun. Last year they spent a month hunting elk in the Crazy Mountains of Montana. Murphy said they were the kind of people who built outdoor forts for fun at age 12.
The men, both 25, were hunting southwest of Monte Vista in Game Management Unit 81, which stretches from the Continental Divide on the west to the Rio Grande River on the east and down to the border of New Mexico.
Martin, who did not see the scene of the recovery, said no determination has been made about cause or manner of death.
“It’s a big mystery to a whole bunch of people,” Martin said.
The last ping from Porter’s InReach device came from near Stasko’s car, which was parked at the trailhead, at 11,700 feet. Authorities found wet clothes in the car. But none of the gear Porter would need to hunt, harvest or pack out an elk was in the car.
This is a developing story that will be updated.
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