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Family died in Rockies after trying to live ‘off the grid,’ official says
SF Gate ^ | 7/26/2023 | By Eduardo Medina

Posted on 07/26/2023 8:18:04 AM PDT by NohSpinZone

Last summer, Rebecca Vance talked with her family about a dream she’d had: She wanted to live in a land disconnected from the world, which she viewed as chaotic and dangerous.

She told her stepsister, Trevala Jara, that she could grow and gather her own food in a remote place, that she and her teenage son could be happy and safe away from the news, the viruses, the politics of modern-day America.

“I’m going to worry about you,” Jara told her stepsister. But Vance was resolute. “I’m going to live off the land,” she replied.

Her decision proved to be fatal. On Tuesday, a coroner said that he had identified three bodies that had been found earlier this month in Colorado’s Rocky Mountains as those of Rebecca Vance, 42, her 14-year-old son and her sister, Christine Vance, 41, who, Jara said, had ventured with them out of concern for their safety, believing an extra set of hands could be useful.

The coroner’s findings came more than a week after the Gunnison County Sheriff’s Office said that the bodies of the campers had been found near Gold Creek Campground, a discovery that drew national attention as officials sought to identify the victims and determine why they had apparently attempted to camp through a brutal winter.

Michael Barnes, the Gunnison County coroner, said on Tuesday that the family members were all from Colorado Springs and had lived “off the grid,” survived on canned food and sheltered in a tent before a harsh winter or malnourishment most likely led to their deaths.

(Excerpt) Read more at sfgate.com ...


TOPICS: Constitution/Conservatism; Culture/Society; News/Current Events; US: Colorado
KEYWORDS: 10000feet; colorado; death; family; gunnison; gunnisoncounty; offthegrid; pitkin; rockies
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To: Karliner

Just imagine a cold winter, only electric heat, and the power goes out for an extended period of time.


81 posted on 07/26/2023 9:35:47 AM PDT by tired&retired (Blessings )
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To: CFW

Very true. These people were idiots. Living off grid takes tons of planning and studying and skill building. It can be done gradually as one builds good survival skills and learns the land.


82 posted on 07/26/2023 9:35:48 AM PDT by meowmeow (In Loving Memory of Our Dear Viking Kitty (1987-2006))
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To: NohSpinZone

I nominate them for the Darwin Award for 2023—assuming they did not die in 2022.


83 posted on 07/26/2023 9:37:10 AM PDT by MIchaelTArchangel
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To: NohSpinZone

The article says they started in July, but they were still living in a tent?

And they only had canned food and prepackaged ramen?

Yeesh!

I have studied wilderness survival and self-sufficiency since I was a kid. I’m pretty confident that, if I had to, I could survive off-grid in the midwestern US. There’s no way I would be doing that in a tent for very long. She needed to spend those summer months building a sturdy, well-insulated shelter to hold them through the winter, as well as setting aside enough food and cooking fuel for 6 months.

And growing/foraging your own food is a skill that takes YEARS to hone! Did she even bother with a field guide? Did she assume all edible wild plants would be labeled? Did she think canned goods grew on trees? What was her actual plan here? Did she even have a plan, or did she just assume everything would fall into her lap if she wished hard enough?

It’s sickening to know she killed her family through her own stupidity.


84 posted on 07/26/2023 9:37:12 AM PDT by Ellendra (A single lie on our side does more damage than a thousand lies on their side.)
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To: Leep

That would be a good starting point. Grab a survival book and try things out until you master. They are necessary skills, in the event that America finally collapses.

You may not stay alive forever, but surviving long enough for America to rebuild would be critical.


85 posted on 07/26/2023 9:37:24 AM PDT by Jonty30 (If liberals were truth tellers, they'd call themselves literals. )
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To: NohSpinZone

Laughable.


86 posted on 07/26/2023 9:38:56 AM PDT by joma89 (Buy weapons and ammo, folks, and have the will to use them.)
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To: Steely Tom

A safer way to try this would be in the National Radio Quiet Zone. I’ve often thought I might like that, if I could get to a library and use the internet now and then.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ElrxvkeGwZA

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eQEGPATQe5s


87 posted on 07/26/2023 9:40:40 AM PDT by Jamestown1630 ("A Republic, if you can keep it.")
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To: NohSpinZone

not surprised....commercials, TV shows, movies depict wimmen as superheros, able to beat up men, always the smartest, strongest and most talented.

No, I didn’t read any books on living in the wilderness, or bring a supply of dried foods to last the winter, or tools to build a shelter for the winter but hey, I drove past a Holiday Inn on my way here.

I feel sorry for the kid - the true victim.


88 posted on 07/26/2023 9:42:04 AM PDT by newmomster
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To: NohSpinZone

People who think this is something they can do, should experiment with living in a tent in their back yard all winter.

Then it’s a short walk to the house when you finally realize all the ways it doesn’t work.


89 posted on 07/26/2023 9:43:04 AM PDT by PapaBear3625 (We live in a time where intelligent people are being silenced so stupid people won’t be offended)
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To: NohSpinZone

Jeremiah Johnson they weren’t.


90 posted on 07/26/2023 9:44:10 AM PDT by Farmerbob
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To: 4yearlurker
They were holding a BIC lighter under a very large log while another Einstein had a small towel fanning the flame. It was pitiful to watch.

I remember trying to start a fire that way.

Granted, I was 6 at the time. . .
91 posted on 07/26/2023 9:45:27 AM PDT by Ellendra (A single lie on our side does more damage than a thousand lies on their side.)
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To: NohSpinZone

The climate cult scared them to Death


92 posted on 07/26/2023 9:45:34 AM PDT by butlerweave
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To: PGR88

Stupid Kills.


93 posted on 07/26/2023 9:45:35 AM PDT by dfwgator (Endut! Hoch Hech!)
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To: NohSpinZone

If only they had a bacon tree.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zDCNJdeM9PE


94 posted on 07/26/2023 9:46:54 AM PDT by dfwgator (Endut! Hoch Hech!)
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To: tired&retired

Good observation. Probably what happened.


95 posted on 07/26/2023 9:48:54 AM PDT by DesertRhino (Dogs are called man's best friend. Moslems hate dogs. Add it up..)
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To: Damifino

“He Did Know,,,,” ??.
.
Hunters found is Rotting corpse.
Dieing ain’t much of a Livin’


96 posted on 07/26/2023 9:50:15 AM PDT by Big Red Badger (The Truman Show)
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To: Angelino97

“she and her teenage son could be happy and safe away from the news, the viruses, the politics of modern-day America.”

Could have done that just by turning off the cable and smart phones


97 posted on 07/26/2023 9:51:01 AM PDT by Justa (If where you came from is so great then why aren't Floridians moving there?)
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To: NohSpinZone

Being stupid should hurt, and sometimes be fatal, as it was in this case.

Too bad they subjected a young boy to their idiocy.


98 posted on 07/26/2023 9:54:02 AM PDT by Jotmo (Whoever said, "The pen is mightier than the sword." has clearly never been stabbed to death.)
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To: NohSpinZone

I got all the outdoors and camping itch out of my system when I was in boy scouts. Now, I’m roughing it if my TV controller is out of batteries or I’m out of ice cubes.


99 posted on 07/26/2023 9:54:58 AM PDT by Bonemaker (invictus maneo)
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To: McGruff

So they found cans of spam, pineapples etc out in the boonies?


100 posted on 07/26/2023 9:58:06 AM PDT by Bonemaker (invictus maneo)
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