Lightning strike killed missing elk hunters found dead in Colorado, officials say

Two missing hunters who were found dead after a series of severe storms were killed by a lightning strike, Colorado officials and news reports said.

Andrew Porter of Asheville, North Carolina, and Ian Stasko of Salt Lake City, Utah, both 25, were reported missing after failing to check in with their families, KDVR reported.

Their families had not heard from them since Sept. 11, when severe storms pummeled the area, Conejos County sheriff’s officials told the station.

A search for the two elk hunters began Sept. 13 at the Rio De Los Pinos Trailhead in the San Juan Wilderness Area, KKTV reported.

Their bodies were found Thursday, Sept. 18, KSL reported.

Porter and Stasko were found below a tree with slight burns, the Conejos County Coroner’s Office told The Colorado Sun. They were killed by a lightning strike.

“That kind of death is just instant. It’s like you’re alive and now you’re not,” coroner Richard Martin told the publication. “Just that quick. Split second.”

“I’m angry at that mountain, angry at the ruthless storms that came in and took my future with Andrew far too soon,” Bridget Murphy, Porter’s fiance, wrote on Facebook. ”He loved doing what he was doing.”

Conejos County is about a 245-mile drive south from Denver, near the New Mexico border.

This story was originally published September 23, 2025 at 4:26 PM with the headline "Lightning strike killed missing elk hunters found dead in Colorado, officials say."