{"id":4862,"date":"2025-09-23T13:58:39","date_gmt":"2025-09-23T13:58:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/grow48.us\/?p=4862"},"modified":"2025-09-23T13:58:39","modified_gmt":"2025-09-23T13:58:39","slug":"tragic-end-to-colorado-search-two-young-elk-hunters-found-after-weeklong-mission-for-seven-days-hope-held-on-in-the-mountains-of-colorado-as-search-teams-scoured-rugged-terrain-for-two-missing-25","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/grow48.us\/?p=4862","title":{"rendered":"TRAGIC END TO COLORADO SEARCH: TWO YOUNG ELK HUNTERS FOUND AFTER WEEKLONG MISSION. For seven days, hope held on in the mountains of Colorado as search teams scoured rugged terrain for two missing 25-year-old elk hunters. Families prayed, communities rallied, and every passing hour felt heavier. Now, the heartbreaking outcome has been confirmed: both young men have been found no longer alive. In a deeply emotional statement, the fianc\u00e9e of one of the hunters shared how it happened \u2014 shedding light on the dangers they faced and the final moments of their journey. Read the latest findings from the investigation, below \ud83d\udc47"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Hunters Have Been Confirmed Dead By Their Families<\/h2>\n

After a weeklong search, the bodies of two missing elk hunters were found in Colorado.<\/p>\n

Andrew Porter, 25, of Asheville, North Carolina, and Ian Stasko, 25, of Salt Lake City, Utah, had been missing since September 11, with their families fearing that unexpected bad weather had caught them off guard.<\/p>\n

<\/div>\n

The search for them led to the discovery that they had both been seen on a neighboring trail on September 12, which changed the timeline and expanded the search radius for the hunters.<\/p>\n

A $10,000 reward was offered to anyone who found the men.<\/p>\n

<\/div>\n

However, they were ultimately found deceased on Thursday, September 18.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is with a broken heart and through tears that I give you this update,\u201d<\/em>\u00a0wrote Andrew\u2019s aunt, Lynne Runkle, on a GoFundMe that was created to help support an expanded search effort.\u00a0\u201cAndrew and Ian have both been found deceased. Their bodies were discovered earlier today by Colorado Search and Rescue.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

\"Ian<\/p>\n

While the family has confirmed the bodies of Andrew and Ian were found,\u00a0it was not until Monday, September 22 that a cause of death was shared.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Writing on Facebook, the fianc\u00e9e to Andrew, named Bridget Murphy, shared the heartbreaking news of how Andrew and Ian died, writing:<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is OFFICIAL, that a lightning strike to the ground took them in an instant. They didn\u2019t do anything wrong, they didn\u2019t feel fear or pain. He was just trying to get back to the car as storms rolled in on Friday \u2013 September 12. It was out of everyone\u2019s hands, and I am so grateful we found them so they can be at peace. He was an experienced outdoorsman, who was in the wrong spot at the wrong time.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

Bridget and Andrew were to be married on May 16, 2026, and she wrote that her\u00a0\u201cfuture is a blank now,\u201d<\/em>\u00a0adding,\u00a0\u201cAndrew, I will do what I can to take one step at a time. I don\u2019t know what to do without you. I know this was not your choice. I know you love me and did everything right. I will always love you, with every breath I have.\u201d<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The Search<\/h2>\n

Over 170 personnel were involved in the search for Andrew and Ian, which even saw the use of dogs and a personally-owned Black Hawk helicopter.<\/p>\n

Prior to the bodies of these two men being found, KOAA News reported that Andrew\u2019s fianc\u00e9e, Bridget Murphy, had posted the following:<\/p>\n

\u201cWhile they are experienced hunters, bad cold storms and fog came in quickly and continuously until Sunday morning. A lot of their gear is still in their car at the trailhead, as we assume they probably thought they were going out for a quick evening hunt with clear weather.\u201d<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

When the Conejos County Sheriff\u2019s Office began its search for the hunters, they found the car where the family had expected it to be: the trailhead of Rio De Los Pinos in the Rio Grande National Forest.<\/p>\n

\"On<\/p>\n

Inside the car, the\u00a0Colorado Sun<\/em>\u00a0reported that the sheriff\u2019s office found wet clothing, which suggests they returned to the car after a storm to change into dry clothes.<\/p>\n

According to Bridget, the two had been practicing building shelters in the wild since they were 12.<\/p>\n

Bridget added,\u00a0\u201cI love Andrew with all of my heart, and if you can\u2019t come help, please just pray for a safe recovery.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

The bodies of Andrew and Ian were reportedly found two miles from the trailhead.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Hunters Have Been Confirmed Dead By Their Families After a weeklong search, the bodies of two missing elk hunters were found in Colorado. Andrew Porter, 25,… <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":4863,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4862","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/grow48.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4862","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/grow48.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/grow48.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/grow48.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/grow48.us\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=4862"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/grow48.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4862\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4864,"href":"https:\/\/grow48.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4862\/revisions\/4864"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/grow48.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/4863"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/grow48.us\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=4862"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/grow48.us\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=4862"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/grow48.us\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=4862"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}