Screencap of YouTube video.

Two young hunters were tragically found dead in the Colorado wilderness this week. The coroner in the case determined that they were killed by a lightning strike and that the strike was so powerful that they died instantly.

It’s a sad reminder of the fierce power of nature and how no one ever knows when their number will come up.

Authorities have reportedly been looking for the two for days.

FOX News has details:

Young hunters in Colorado died in ‘instant,’ coroner reveals

A lightning strike has been ruled the preliminary cause of death for the two hunters found dead in Colorado.

Conejos County Coroner Richard Martin has given his findings to multiple media outlets. He says Andrew Porter and Ian Stasko’s “[k]ind of death is just instant.”

“It’s like you’re alive, and now you’re not,” Martin told The Colorado Sun. “Just that quick. Split second.”

Martin said the men, both 25, were found under a tree with slight burns on their bodies…

The two were reported missing to the Conejos County Sheriff’s Office (CCSO) on September 13, but last made contact with their family on September 11.

Deputies say Porter, who was from Asheville, North Carolina, and Stasko, who is from Salt Lake City, Utah, “were reported overdue while elk hunting.” They did have a satellite device, which Porter’s aunt, Lynne Runkle, said was “not functioning.”

Here’s a video report:

No matter how experienced you are as a hunter and no matter how carefully you prepare, there are some things over which you just have no control. This was obviously one of those cases. Condolences to their families and friends.

Mike LaChance Mike LaChance has been covering higher education and politics for Legal Insurrection since 2012. Since 2008 he has contributed work to the Gateway Pundit, Daily Caller, Breitbart, the Center for Security Policy, the Washington Free Beacon, and Ricochet. He has also written for American Lookout, Townhall, and Twitchy.

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