Nearly ten days after the discovery of three deceased individuals close to a secluded campground in Gunnison County, Colorado, some answers are starting to emerge.
On July 16, a hiker in the vicinity of Fossil Ridge Wilderness Study Area stumbled upon three bodies at Gold Creek Campground. Due to severe decomposition, the police struggled to identify the victims and determine the cause of their deaths.
After an extensive investigation, the bodies have now been identified, but the mystery surrounding their demise persists. Gunnison County Coroner, Michael Barnes, revealed that two of the victims were sisters, Rebecca Vance (42) and Christine Vance (43). The third victim was Rebecca’s 14-year-old son, whose name has not been disclosed due to his status as a minor. All three individuals hailed from Colorado Springs.
Interestingly, none of these individuals appeared on the Colorado Bureau of Investigation’s list of missing persons. Authorities are currently attempting to contact the boy’s father and paternal grandmother but have not yet located them.
Though an official cause of death is yet to be declared, Barnes speculated that the trio may have started camping in the remote area as early as July 2022 and succumbed to malnutrition and exposure as the seasons changed and temperatures dropped. Initially, the state of decomposition led investigators to believe that the deaths occurred in the fall.
The hiker who made the grim discovery found two of the bodies inside a zipped-up tent, while the third was outside the tent. The camp itself was quite rudimentary, consisting of only a small tent and a makeshift lean-to. It was situated approximately 1,000 feet away from an established campsite, and no vehicle was reported at the scene, despite the campground being nearly 7 miles from the nearest town of Ohio City.
As the investigation continues, GearJunkie will provide further updates on this story, including the official cause of death and any additional information surrounding this peculiar incident.