{"id":3409,"date":"2025-09-23T11:35:55","date_gmt":"2025-09-23T11:35:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bangbizarre.com\/index.php\/2025\/09\/23\/elk-hunters-found-dead-after-lightning-strike-but-they-only-had-slight-burns\/"},"modified":"2025-09-23T11:35:56","modified_gmt":"2025-09-23T11:35:56","slug":"elk-hunters-found-dead-after-lightning-strike-but-they-only-had-slight-burns","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bangbizarre.com\/index.php\/2025\/09\/23\/elk-hunters-found-dead-after-lightning-strike-but-they-only-had-slight-burns\/","title":{"rendered":"Elk hunters found dead after lightning strike but they only had &#039;slight burns&#039;"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><b>2025-09-23 11:35:54<\/b><br \/>\n<BR>Two elk hunters who vanished in southern Colorado were killed by a lightning strike, officials confirmed this week &#8211; despite having only &#8220;slight burns&#8221; on their bodies.<BR><br \/>\nThe victims, named as Andrew Porter and Ian Stasko, were discovered on September 18 after a massive search in the South San Juan Wilderness near Monte Vista.<BR><br \/>\nAccording to The Colorado Sun, Conejos County Coroner Richard Martin said the pair were found lying beneath a tree with only two or three small burns. <BR><br \/>\nHe said: &#8220;A slight burn is like if you take a match and stick it on your arm.<BR><br \/>\n&#8220;That kind of death is just instant. It\u2019s like you\u2019re alive and now you\u2019re not. Just that quick. Split second.&#8221;<BR><br \/>\nThe men were last seen heading out from the Rio de Los Pinos trailhead on September 12. <BR><br \/>\nAccording to Sheriff Garth Crowther, they carried just a small daypack, a bow and no firearm, and had not set up camp. <BR><br \/>\nBoth were dressed in camouflage clothing, described as \u201cnot the warmest.\u201d<BR><br \/>\nPorter\u2019s fianc\u00e9e Bridget Murphy later confirmed the lightning strike in a Facebook post, writing: \u201cThey didn\u2019t do anything wrong, they didn\u2019t feel fear or pain. 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<BR><br \/>\nSearch and rescue crews located the bodies roughly two miles above the Rio de Los Pinos trail after nearly a week of combing the area. <BR><br \/>\nMartin performed the autopsy on Monday, confirming no other injuries or signs of foul play.<BR><br \/>\nLightning is a rare but deadly hazard in Colorado. The National Weather Service says the state averages two lightning deaths a year. <BR><br \/>\nIn 2024, a Jackson County rancher and more than 30 cattle were killed in a single strike.<BR><br \/>\nDespite precautions, Martin said, storms can be unpredictable: \u201cIt was just the wrong place at the wrong time.\u201d<br \/>\n<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/bangbizarre.com\/\" target=\"_blank\"> Visit Bang Bizarre (main website) <\/a><br \/>\n<br \/><script src=\"https:\/\/geo.dailymotion.com\/player\/xtbac.js\" data-video=\"\"><\/script><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>2025-09-23 11:35:54 Two elk hunters who vanished in southern Colorado were killed by a lightning strike, officials confirmed this week &#8211; despite having only &#8220;slight burns&#8221; on their bodies. The&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3410,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3409","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-bizarre"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/bangbizarre.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3409","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/bangbizarre.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/bangbizarre.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bangbizarre.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bangbizarre.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3409"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/bangbizarre.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3409\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3411,"href":"https:\/\/bangbizarre.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3409\/revisions\/3411"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bangbizarre.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3410"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/bangbizarre.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3409"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bangbizarre.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3409"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bangbizarre.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3409"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}