Two Colorado college students have been found dead after going missing during a hiking trip in the Rocky Mountains last weekend when a heavy snowstorm hit, authorities said. The bodies of Kaden Matsuda, 19, of Ridgway, Colorado, and New York's Jackson Donlon, 20, were found Wednesday in a basin of West Apostle Mountain, about 100 miles southeast of Aspen, the Chaffee County Sheriff's Office said in a statement posted on social media. The young men left Colorado Mountain College Leadville's campus on Friday, telling family and friends they planned to hike up Ice Mountain, a nearly 14,000-foot peak near West Apostle Mountain that requires technical climbing, the sheriff's office said.
They were expected back by Sunday, but college staff reported them missing on Monday morning, per the AP. The sheriff's office said the causes of their deaths were under investigation, but foul play wasn't suspected; authorities said they won't offer theories on what may have happened until autopsies are done. About 60 volunteers, aided by helicopters, drones, and dogs, had searched for the two men. The helicopter crew on Tuesday discovered a tent collapsed under the snow with their sleeping bags, a stove, and clothing near a lake northwest of Ice Mountain, but the students were nowhere to be found.
Friends and family described both as experienced hikers and climbers. The sheriff's office said their climbing equipment wasn't in their dorms, tent, or vehicle, suggesting they'd left their tent prepared for a technical climb. Trash inside the tent indicated they'd eaten before starting their hike, officials said. Matsuda was studying to become a wildland firefighter, while Donlon was studying to become a mountain guide, said Sheriff Andy Rohrich, adding, "Our heart aches for Kaden and Jackson's family and friends."
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