Family who went 'off the grid' in Colorado wilderness died of malnutrition, autopsy finds

Two sisters and the teenage son of one of them who told family last year they would live "off the grid" died of hypothermia and malnutrition as they endured the elements in the Colorado wilderness, according to newly released autopsy reports.

Christine Vance, 41, Rebecca Vance, 42, and Rebecca's 14-year-old son were identified in July after three "partially mummified" bodies were discovered in a remote campsite in the Gunnison National Forest.

The teenager, who was not named publicly because of his age, weighed just 40 pounds, according to the autopsy from the Gunnison County coroner's office, first reported by The Colorado Sun. The average weight of a boy his age is 112 pounds, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/family-went-grid-colorado-wilderness-died-malnutrition-autopsy-finds-rcna103009?utm_source=fark&utm_medium=website&utm_content=link&ICID=ref_fark

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SW-User

I read a similar story last night. A young guy went into the Alaskan wilderness and slowly died of starvation.

windinhishair · 61-69, M

@SW-User Chris McCandless. Into the Wild was the book written about his misadventure.

SW-User

@windinhishair Yes. He renamed himself Alexander Supertramp.

windinhishair · 61-69, M

@SW-User He made so many bad mistakes, and the wilderness is not a forgiving place.

SW-User

@windinhishair His biggest mistake was giving away 50,000 to Oxfam and not provisioning himself first.

windinhishair · 61-69, M

@SW-User He needed more knowledge of the area that he was trying to survive in. It cost him dearly.

SW-User

@windinhishair Yes. Rivers change with the seasons.

windinhishair · 61-69, M

@SW-User The Teklanika River was too flooded for him to get across, though if he had known about it, there was a winch about a half mile downstream that he could have used. His more serious error was eating a plant he misidentified that prevented him from being able to properly get nutrition from other foods. Once that happened, he was doomed unless he hiked out.

PoetryNEmotion · F

@windinhishair I read about him. A combination of things went wrong. It was a journal of his life and what hapened.

windinhishair · 61-69, M

@PoetryNEmotion Jon Krakauer's book Into the Wild was excellent. The movie was worth watching as well.