By Sumayya
Two Colorado college students were found dead after they went missing during a mountain hike last weekend when a bad snowstorm hit, police said.
The bodies of Kaden Matsuda, 19, from Ridgway, Colorado, and Jackson Donlon, 20, from Queensbury, New York, were located Wednesday afternoon in a low area of West Apostle Mountain. This spot is about 160 kilometers southeast of Aspen, according to an online post by the Chaffee County Sheriff’s Office.
The pair left the Colorado Mountain College Leadville campus on Friday. They told family and friends they wanted to climb Ice Mountain, a 4,254-meter peak near West Apostle Mountain that requires special climbing skills, the police said. They were supposed to return by Sunday, but school workers reported them missing on Monday morning.
The sheriff’s office said they are still investigating what caused the deaths, but they do not think any crime happened. Officials said they will not share any guesses about what took place until the medical examinations are finished.
“Our hearts hurt for Kaden and Jackson’s family and friends,” Sheriff Andy Rohrich said in the message Wednesday night. “We are very proud of our team’s hard work to find them before another storm arrives this coming weekend. Although this is a heavy blow, our prayers were answered that we would find Kaden and Jackson, bringing some peace to the families.”
Rohrich explained in a phone call Thursday morning that the men’s bodies are still in that mountain area. Officials are waiting for strong, gusty winds to slow down so a helicopter team can safely fly up and bring them back.
Around 60 rescue volunteers looked for the two men, using helicopters, flying drones, and search dogs.
On Tuesday, a helicopter crew found a tent that had fallen down under the heavy snow near a lake northwest of Ice Mountain. Inside the tent, they found sleeping bags, a cooking stove, and clothes, but the students were not there.
Based on where the tent was found, Rohrich said it looks like Matsuda and Donlon changed their plans. They seemed to be trying to climb the 4,144-meter West Apostle Mountain instead of Ice Mountain. He added that the spot where the bodies were discovered showed they were far along in their hike when they passed away.
Friends and family described both young men as experienced hikers and climbers.
The police noted that their climbing gear was not left behind in their school dorm rooms, their tent, or their car, which suggests they left their tent fully prepared for a difficult climb. Leftover trash inside the tent proved that they ate a meal before starting their hike, officials said.
Matsuda was studying in school to become a forest firefighter, and Donlon was training to become a professional mountain guide, Rohrich shared.
Rescue teams had been worried that flying searches would be stopped in the coming days because of bad weather that was expected to start on Friday.
