Two Colorado Mountain College students who went missing on a climb in the Rockies last week have been found dead.
Kaden Matsuda, 19, of Ridgway, Colorado, and Jackson Donlon, 20, of New York, were found Wednesday afternoon, Oct. 28, in a basin of West Apostle Mountain in Chaffee County, the sheriff’s office said, per FOX Weather. Searchers found them near each other around 3:30 p.m.
“Our heart aches for Kaden and Jackson’s family and friends,” Chaffee County Sheriff Andy Rohrich said.
The Climb They Planned
The two students at the college’s Leadville campus left on Friday, Oct. 23. They were headed for Ice Mountain, a peak of nearly 14,000 feet that takes technical climbing to reach, the Associated Press reported.
They were expected back that Sunday. On Oct. 26, staff at the college called the sheriff’s office to report them overdue.
A Tent Under the Snow
Deputies found Matsuda’s car at the Mount Huron trailhead. Then a helicopter crew spotted something near Lake Ann, and a team on the ground found the pair’s tent, collapsed under the snow. Their sleeping bags, a stove and clothes were inside, but the two men were not.
There was no snow under the tent and no footprints around it, which suggests they set it up before the storm hit.
“When the two ventured to the mountain, it would have been raining in the area,” deputies said.
By the time the search started, about 8 inches of snow sat at the trailhead. Ice Mountain got 1 to 2 feet, with drifts up to 4 feet.
The Search
About 60 search and rescue volunteers took part, the AP reported. Teams came in from Chaffee, Fremont, Teller, Arapahoe, Lake and Gunnison counties, using drones, helicopters, an infrared aircraft and search dogs.
Rohrich said he was “very proud of our team’s efforts to find them before this weekend’s coming storm.”
What Happens Next
The cause of death is still under investigation, and officials are waiting on autopsies. The sheriff’s office said foul play is not suspected, KKTV reported.
