By Lauren Penington
Copyright denverpost
Search and rescue crews continue to comb the Rio Grande National Forest in southern Colorado on Thursday in search of two missing elk hunters.
The hunters, 25-year-old Andrew Porter of Asheville, N.C., and 25-year-old Ian Stasko of Salt Lake City, were reported missing last Friday after they failed to check in with their loved ones and their satellite device stopped functioning.
Bridget Murphy, Porter’s fiancée, told the Colorado Sun that Porter had been sending brief updates to her and his family every few hours until the afternoon of Sept. 11. The last ping came from near Stasko’s car, which was parked at the Rio de Los Pinos trailhead.
Other hunters spotted the hunters Friday morning on a trail neighboring the Rio de Los Pinos trail, Murphy said in a Wednesday update on Facebook.
More than 50 search teams were in the field on Wednesday, a mix of professionally trained search and rescue personnel and volunteers, according to a news release from the Conejos County Sheriff’s Office. Each team consisted of three to four people, traveling on foot or horseback.
Volunteers arrived in southern Colorado from numerous counties and even traveled in from other states, including Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas and Wyoming, sheriff’s officials said in the release.
Drones and helicopters also searched the forest from above, sheriff’s officials said.
“We are praying every moment,” Murphy wrote on Facebook. “We know they’re very strong and capable guys. We just keep praying.”
Murphy said the families are offering a $10,000 reward for the person who finds the two men and asked anyone with experience to join the search.
As of Thursday morning, more than $75,000 had been raised on GoFundMe for the search.
People interested in helping can call the Conejos County Sheriff’s Office at 719-376-2196 for information.
This is a developing story and may be updated.
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