Two Colorado college students who went missing during a hike when a heavy snowstorm hit the Rocky Mountains have been found dead, the Associated Press reported.
The bodies of Kaden Matsuda, 19, of Ridgway, Colorado, and Jackson Donlon, 20, of New York, were found Wednesday afternoon in a basin of West Apostle Mountain, about 100 miles southeast of Aspen, the Chaffee County Sheriff’s Office said.
The pair left Colorado Mountain College’s Leadville campus on Friday and told family and friends they planned to climb Ice Mountain, a nearly 14,000-foot peak that requires technical climbing. They were due back Sunday and were reported missing Monday morning.
The sheriff’s office said the causes of death are under investigation, but foul play is not suspected.
“Our heart aches for Kaden and Jackson’s family and friends,” Sheriff Andy Rohrich said. About 60 search and rescue volunteers took part in the search, according to the AP.
Officials said they would not speculate on what happened until autopsies are complete.
Sources: Associated Press via KTAR News. Thee Arizona Times uses AI-assisted reporting reviewed against the sources listed.
Photo: T. H. Painter, Snow Optics Laboratory, JPL/Caltech / Public domain via Wikimedia Commons.
