Posted on 09/17/2025 9:25:33 AM PDT by Pontiac
CONEJOS COUNTY, Colo. (KKTV) - A massive search is underway for a pair of hunters who were reportedly last heard from on Thursday, while hunting in Conejos County.
According to the Conejos County Sheriff’s Office (CCSO), on September 13, deputies responded to the Rio De Los Pinos Trailhead in an effort to make contact with two hunters, Andrew Porter, a 25-year-old man from Asheville, N.C., and Ian Stasko, a 25-year-old man from Salt Lake City, UT. The sheriff’s office said the pair was reported overdue while elk hunting in the San Juan Wilderness Area, west of Trujillo Meadows Reservoir, when they failed to check in with their loved ones.
According to Porter’s fiancée Bridget Murphy, Porter and Stasko have not responded to communication since Thursday evening.
“Unfortunately, terrible storms came in on Thursday night with thunder, lightning, very, very bad fog, and rain. And then those storms kind of continued until Saturday night,” Murphy said.
CCSO said the car that the pair took to the trailhead was located with their camping gear and backpacks still inside. Deputies said there was a concern due to bad weather and heavy rain in the area.
The sheriff’s office said Search and Rescue operations were immediately put into place, with air operations, multi-county and state ground teams, dog teams, drone teams, ATVs and local volunteers working the area in a “massive” search.
(Excerpt) Read more at kktv.com ...
You just would not wander to far from your car in to the wilderness without your camping gear.
They have been searching for these young men for 5 days now.
I cannot imagine walking into a wilderness area without a Sat Tracker. Especially a place I was not familiar with.
I am very comfortable with a map and compass.
That said, two people missing at once? I have to wonder what they stumbled across.
Sounds like there’ll be more to this story (said Captain Obvious).
Didn’t check the weather forecast?
They could have both been killed by a lightning bolt. It happens up there. More than once they find 15 or 20 elk together, dead from one bolt.
Probably not crime if their car and gear wasn’t stolen.
Bigfoot got em
Yes. Very odd.
“I cannot imagine walking into a wilderness area without a Sat Tracker. Especially a place I was not familiar with.”
*************************************************
All Apple iPhones (Models iPhone 14 and later) can connect with satellites and send text messages and share their exact locations even when “off the grid” and unable to connect to a cell tower.
But you’re right… after this long you have to wonder what they ran into.
“Bigfoot got em”
Lots of weird stuff in the San Juans.
Lots of stories like that. Earlier this year there was the one about the mom and son in Australia. They were going out camping and stopped to stretch their legs on the drive at a scenic overlook or something.
They walked down the trail to get a better view, then a little more, and pretty soon the trail petered out and 10 days later they found a dirt road and were soon found. They didn’t have anything with them.
There are stories of people who wandered a few hundred yards off the trail (disoriented, lost sense of direction) and searches were unsuccessful.
Then their bodies were found years later, a quarter mile from where they were last known to be.
You would if it was simply a day hunt with the intent of finding a camping site later.
I heard about a camper who reached his intended campsite, took a few steps around the location and then fell down an overgrown, abandoned mineshaft. One of the searchers almost did the exact same thing.
They found these guys, dead.
I read ‘Details are limited, and it is not known where or how they died’ but that they are going to wait till Friday so as to get in touch with family members Nd inform before they give out more news.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.