CHAFFEE COUNTY, Colo. — Two Colorado Mountain College students who vanished during a weekend mountain excursion were found dead Wednesday afternoon in the rugged terrain of Chaffee County, authorities said.
The Chaffee County Sheriff’s Office confirmed that rescuers located 19-year-old Kaden Matsuda and 20-year-old Jackson Donlon at approximately 3:30 p.m. in a basin near West Apostle Mountain. The discovery brought an end to an intensive multi-agency search that faced worsening winter weather, CBS News reported.
Matsuda, from Ridgeway, Colorado, and Donlon, from New York, attended the college’s Leadville campus, KRDO reported. Officials said Matsuda was studying to become a wildland firefighter while Donlon was training to work as a mountain guide.
Search across frozen terrain
The pair left campus on Friday, Oct. 23, intending to camp and climb in northern Chaffee County, according to investigators. Friends informed authorities that the pair planned to tackle Ice Mountain, a technical climb accessed from the Mount Huron trailhead near Winfield. The students had planned to return over the weekend, but Colorado Mountain College alerted law enforcement around 10 a.m. Monday when neither showed up for classes.
Deputies located Matsuda’s vehicle at the trailhead shortly after receiving the report. As rescue crews mobilized, severe autumn weather complicated their initial reconnaissance. While lower basins received rain followed by several inches of snow, higher elevations near Ice Mountain saw up to two feet of fresh snowfall and wind drifts as deep as four feet, according to KRDO.
Search efforts accelerated Tuesday when a helicopter spotted an object near Lake Ann. Rescuers determined it was the pair’s tent, which had collapsed beneath heavy snow. Personal items including sleeping bags, a camp stove and clothing remained inside the shelter, but neither hiker was present.
Challenging rescue conditions
Roughly 60 search and rescue personnel from several neighboring counties worked the surrounding peaks, according to Sheriff Andy Rohrich. Crews deployed tracking dogs, drones fitted with infrared cameras and helicopters, while Flight for Life aircraft scanned the slopes trying to detect an avalanche beacon Donlon carried.
Faculty members from Colorado Mountain College with specialized mountain travel and alpine rescue experience also assisted the operational teams, the school said.
Responders pushed to cover the ground rapidly because forecasters predicted another major winter storm would arrive by the weekend, which threatened to halt flights and cover ground evidence.
“Our heart aches for Kaden and Jackson’s family and friends,” Rohrich said in a statement released after the bodies were found. “We are very proud of our team’s efforts to find them before this weekend’s coming storm.”
Community mourns the loss
Colorado Mountain College officials expressed grief following the recovery, noting that grief counselors and mental health professionals were made available to students, faculty and staff at the Leadville campus.
“We are devastated by the loss of Kaden Matsuda and Jackson Donlon, two members of our Colorado Mountain College community,” the college said in a statement. “Our hearts are with their families, friends, classmates, faculty and everyone who knew and cared about them.”
Investigators stated that foul play is not suspected in the deaths. The Chaffee County Coroner’s Office is conducting autopsies to determine the official cause and manner of death for both men.
