Barely a week after two hunters were found dead in Colorado’s Rio Grande National Forest, a third hunter has also died in the same wilderness area, just ten miles away.
Todd Shoulders, a 54-year-old man from Tennessee, was found dead by first responders on the evening of September 26, Connie Ricci of the Conejos County Sheriff’s Office (CCSO) told Outside. Dispatchers had received a distress call from two members of Shoulders’ hunting party at 11:23 p.m. The callers reported that they had begun CPR on their companion, but by the time the search and rescue team arrived in the remote area of the South San Juan Wilderness where his party was located, he was deceased.
According to a press release shared with Outside, “due to the hazardous nighttime conditions, it was not safe to conduct a recovery mission with the Flight for Life helicopter” that same evening. Rescuers returned to the site at first light the following morning to recover Shoulders’ body.
Shoulders’ death comes just eight days after the discovery of the bodies of Ian Stasko and Andrew Porter, two 25-year-old elk hunters who were reported missing on September 11. Stasko and Porter’s disappearance prompted an extensive search and rescue operation, involving as many as 54 teams of volunteer and professional rescuers. The two men were eventually discovered two miles from the Rio De Los Pinos Trail Head on September 18. A subsequent coroner’s report revealed that they had been killed by lightning while sheltering from heavy storms beneath a tree.
Coroner Richard Martin told Outside that a direct strike did not kill the two men, but that the lightning hit the tree and traveled into the ground. He added that the death would have been instant.
Shoulders’ cause of death, however, is unclear. Ricci stated that at this time, the CCSO is unaware of the coroner’s report results, but noted that, although coincidental, this third death is not indicative of any abnormal environmental hazards in the region.
“Sheriff Crowther just reminds everyone entering the wilderness to please be cautious and well-prepared for the challenges of the backcountry,” she added. “There is no threat to the hunting public or those observing the fall colors.”
The post Officials Identify Body of Third Hunter Found Dead in Colorado appeared first on Outside Online.
