"Andrew Porter, 25, of Asheville, North Carolina, and Ian Stasko, 25, of Salt Lake City, were reported missing when they failed to check in with family members on Sept. 12. An extensive search found the pair dead on Sept. 18 about two miles from the trailhead where their vehicle was parked, the Conejos County sheriff's office reported. In a preliminary statement, Conejos County Coroner Richard Martin said the men had no significant injuries, including burn marks."
"But the full examination turned up a clue: a few slight burns like if you take a match and stick it on your arm, Martin told the Colorado Sun. That led him to believe that the men had been killed by lightning, though it had not directly struck them. Martin said the lightning probably struck a tree and continued into them. He did not specify a cause of death, but said it was probably instantaneous."
"The deaths of Porter and Stasko were the 15th and 16th lightning fatalities this year in the United States, according to the National Lightning Safety Council. They were the year's second double fatality: Two teens were killed by lightning in July while fishing at a Georgia pond. The southeastern states see the most lightning deaths, led by Florida, with 51 since 2015. Colorado has had 10 in that period."
Two 25-year-old elk hunters were found dead six days after being reported missing in a national forest near the Colorado-New Mexico border. Their bodies were discovered about two miles from the trailhead where their vehicle was parked. A coroner found no significant external trauma, only a few slight burns, and concluded lightning likely struck a tree and the electrical current continued into the men, killing them probably instantaneously. Lightning-related internal injuries can cause cardiac arrest or arrhythmia, or throw victims to the ground causing blunt trauma. These deaths were the 15th and 16th U.S. lightning fatalities this year.
Read at www.mercurynews.com
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