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Update: Names released of two people found dead near Maroon Bells

Marci Krivonen

 

Update (7/16/15 6:30pm) : Pitkin County officials have released the names of two people found dead in the Maroon Bells Snowmass Wilderness on Wednesday. The Pitkin County Sheriff’s Office says the victims were a man and his son from Colorado Springs.

Jeffrey Beard, 41, and Cameron Beard, 14, were found Wednesday, unresponsive in their tent near a popular backpacking route. The two were at 11,000 feet and south of West Maroon Pass. The Pitkin County Coroner’s office said Thursday, July 16th, that toxicology reports aren’t done yet. Once they are, the causes and manners of death will be released.

Early reports about the incident said the two may have died after getting hit by lightning, because at least one of them had burns on his body. There was also a camping stove inside the tent. The National Weather Service says there have been four deaths by lightning in the last fifteen years on the Western Slope. Two were in Garfield County, in the Rifle area. None occurred in a tent.

 

Two other children in the family were camping also and found their father and brother. They were escorted out of the field on Wednesday and evaluated at the hospital. They were unharmed. It was not clear last night what their status is now.

 

 

 

Earlier (7/16/15 3:11 pm):

The Pitkin County Coroner's Office released the names of the father and son who died in their tent in the Maroon Bells Snowmass Wilderness.  Jeffery Beard, a 41-year-old male and Cameron Beard, a 14 year-

old-male, were discovered unresponsive by a hiker on Wednesday morning. Both are from Colorado Springs. The official cause of death has not been released pending a toxicology report. Authorities said Wednesday lightning may have caused their deaths.
 

Earlier: Emergency crews recovered two bodies from the Maroon Bells Snowmass Wilderness Wednesday. Hikers found the two people, unresponsive, in a tent at a campsite south of West Maroon Pass, at 11,000 feet above sea level. Authorities were notified and a Mountain Rescue Aspen team arrived at the campsite via Flight for Life helicopter.  Once there, the team members discovered the bodies of an adult male and a juvenile male still inside their tent. The Flight for Life helicopter crew helped take the bodies out of the wilderness.

 

Initial indications suggest the deaths were caused by a lightning strike. However, an official cause of death will be released by the Pitkin County Coroner's Office once autopsies have been performed.

 

Two juvenile individuals associated with the two unresponsive people were unharmed. On Wednesday morning they were walking toward the Maroon Bells parking lot and were met by rescue personnel. They were transported to Aspen Valley Hospital for evaluation.

 

Mountain Rescue Aspen, Aspen Ambulance, Flight For Life Colorado and Pitkin County Sheriff’s Office deputies responded to Wednesday's call.

 

The Pitkin County Sheriff’s Office is reminding the people to be weather-aware, especially in the backcountry, and to take appropriate actions for protection.