Three highly decomposed bodies of campers were found on Sunday in the Rocky Mountains in Colorado, and they might have been there since last year, law enforcement officials said.
Michael Barnes, the Gunnison County coroner, wrote in an email that the three individuals appeared to have begun “long term camping” at a location near Gold Creek Campground in western Colorado in July of 2022. They attempted to stay through the winter, he said, and might have been trying to live there permanently.
“Preliminarily, I suspect the three died of malnutrition and/or exposure sometime during the winter,” Mr. Barnes said. “Official determination of the cause and manner of their deaths are pending the completion of the forensic autopsies.”
Mr. Barnes said he was confident in the identities of the three campers but was awaiting test results for confirmation; he believed the three were related, he said.
Mr. Barnes expected the examinations would be complete “in the next day or two.”
A person hiking outside of the campground in the Gunnison National Forest on Sunday discovered a remote campsite with a severely decomposed body and contacted authorities just before 5 p.m., according to a news release from the Gunnison County Sheriff’s Office in Gunnison, Colo.
Officials determined that they needed daylight to conduct an investigation, since the area was so remote they wouldn’t be able to plug in any lights. Investigators went to the scene at 8 a.m. the next day.
In addition to the individual the hiker spotted, investigators found two more bodies in a tent. There was also a lean-to fire pit built from logs from the area, Gunnison County Sheriff Adam Murdie said.
When officials found the bodies at the campsite, they were so decomposed that it was impossible to identify them, Mr. Murdie said.
“We’re suspecting they were there under the snow all winter long.” Mr. Murdie said.
Although the area is not an official campsite, it’s not unusual for hikers and backpackers to set up camp near where the corpses were found, Mr. Murdie said.
Having people die in the area, however, is rare, he said. “It’s totally uncommon,” Mr. Murdie said.
The sheriff’s office said it was awaiting the autopsy report before it could determine the victims’ identities, Mr. Murdie said.
The law enforcement agency said in a statement that there were no known risks to outdoor enthusiasts related to the deaths.