Identified! CO - Gunnison Nat’l Forest, 3 Decomposed Bodies, long term camping near Gold Creek Campground, July 2023 - Rebecca & Christine Vance & Boy, 14

[branmuffin]

The DM article posted in Post #8 sounds like they may already know who the deceased are. It says, "The coroner won't release the identities of those deceased until the next of kin has been notified."

 

[LadyL]

The DM article posted in Post #8 sounds like they may already know who the deceased are. It says, "The coroner won't release the identities of those deceased until the next of kin has been notified."

I think that's a standard statement.

 

[ch_13]

There's a hiking trail that starts at Gold Creek Campground and goes to Henry Lake.

I used the preview feature of AllTrails to get a 3D view of the area. I think it gives a better idea of the ruggedness of the terrain compared to the satellite maps on Google. I believe you need an AllTrails account to access the preview, but I took a screenshot below. The Gold Coast Campground is located at the bottom of the pic where the green line begins.

Edit - You can see some photos that various people have taken along the trail here, just to get an idea of what the area looks like at ground level: https://www.alltrails.com/trail/us/...ottis-trail-from-gold-creek-campground/photos

 

[RedHaus]

interpreted the above statement to mean that the three individuals set up a camp somewhere nearby the Gold Creek Campground. Then the first body was found approximately 1,000 feet from the campsite that they set up.

Yes, that Colorado Sun statement, below, is confusing. I considered all angles of how to interpret it before I tentatively settled on the trio were found '1000 feet from a Gold Creek Campsite'. Below is my logic, FWIW.

• ..."The hiker found one body... about 1,000 feet from a campsite near the Gold Creek Campground..."

If you blow up the DM article image of the recovery station, you see a camper truck. That to me looks like a campsite near the Gold Creek Campground - which is to the right of that clearing. Could even be the hiker's (that found them.)

Hopefully we'll know for sure some day if they were found in that valley or up one of the steep mtn trails you cited.

p.s. well then, here is yet another MSM interpretation of Murdie's statement... "Sheriff Adam Murdie said Tuesday that the bodies were discovered more than 1,000 feet from the Gold Creek Campground, deep in the hills."

ETA postscript

 

[RedHaus]

Hopefully my last post on this thread for a while.

"The coroner told Western Slope Now he believes the three deceased campers could have been related, but is awaiting the completion of a dental comparison before releasing their names, ages and genders."

So this makes me wonder if these campers could have been the three lads from Utah, inexperienced and naive perhaps.

Sourced from WesternSlopeNow

 

[Magnum P.E.]

Absolutely no word on any abandoned vehicle in the area, a bit too remote for anything other than small off-road type if so
Hiked in is my guess

Yep, that or hitched a ride with someone.

 

[303gmf]

There's a hiking trail that starts at Gold Creek Campground and goes to Henry Lake.

I used the preview feature of AllTrails to get a 3D view of the area. I think it gives a better idea of the ruggedness of the terrain compared to the satellite maps on Google. I believe you need an AllTrails account to access the preview, but I took a screenshot below. The Gold Coast Campground is located at the bottom of the pic where the green line begins.

View attachment 435098



Edit - You can see some photos that various people have taken along the trail here, just to get an idea of what the area looks like at ground level: https://www.alltrails.com/trail/us/...ottis-trail-from-gold-creek-campground/photos

Excellent map!

 

[atomicsciencegal]

Hopefully my last post on this thread for a while.

"The coroner told Western Slope Now he believes the three deceased campers could have been related, but is awaiting the completion of a dental comparison before releasing their names, ages and genders."

So this makes me wonder if these campers could have been the three lads from Utah, inexperienced and naive perhaps.

Sourced from WesternSlopeNow

Thank you RedHaus for all your excellent effort, it is appreciated.

 

[RedHaus]

Well, I believe I can eliminate the three Barlow Brothers missing from America Forks, UT since the end of October as the possible identies of the three deceased campers found near Gold Creek Campground, Gunnison County, CO.

This morning I reached out to an organization that helps people leave the FLDS, thinking they may know or want to know something. Tonia Tewell, Executive Director, Holding Out HELP(www.holdingouthelp.org) in turn reached out to 'the investigator' (not sure if American Forks or Gunnison LE) and she was told the campers are not these three boys.

 

[303gmf]

Well, I believe I can eliminate the three Barlow Brothers missing from America Forks, UT since the end of October as the possible identies of the three deceased campers found near Gold Creek Campground, Gunnison County, CO.

This morning I reached out to an organization that helps people leave the FLDS, thinking they may know or want to know something. Tonia Tewell, Executive Director, Holding Out HELP(www.holdingouthelp.org) in turn reached out to 'the investigator' (not sure if American Forks or Gunnison LE) and she was told the campers are not these three boys.

Happy to know about this organization !

 

[atomicsciencegal]

Well, I believe I can eliminate the three Barlow Brothers missing from America Forks, UT since the end of October as the possible identies of the three deceased campers found near Gold Creek Campground, Gunnison County, CO.

This morning I reached out to an organization that helps people leave the FLDS, thinking they may know or want to know something. Tonia Tewell, Executive Director, Holding Out HELP(www.holdingouthelp.org) in turn reached out to 'the investigator' (not sure if American Forks or Gunnison LE) and she was told the campers are not these three boys.

That is a relief!

 

[cocomod]

I keep wondering if this is a parent and children - maybe a parent living off the grid to keep the kids way from the other parent. Custody dispute to the extreme? Isn't there a father in New Zealand that is suspected of doing this?

 

[Simply Southern]

I keep wondering if this is a parent and children - maybe a parent living off the grid to keep the kids way from the other parent. Custody dispute to the extreme? Isn't there a father in New Zealand that is suspected of doing this?

Made me this of this case … family of three missing since July 11th

Family missing Little Village (Chicago), IL July 11, 2023

A family of three from the Little Village area of Chicago, IL has been reported missing after closing their business near the 2200 block of S.Kedzie Avenue and Cermak Road which is near their home. Pedro Morales - age 67, his wife Justina Morales, age 51, and their 6-year-old son, Caleb have...

www.websleuths.com

 

[RedHaus]

Made me this of this case … family of three missing since July 11th

Family missing Little Village (Chicago), IL July 11, 2023

A family of three from the Little Village area of Chicago, IL has been reported missing after closing their business near the 2200 block of S.Kedzie Avenue and Cermak Road which is near their home. Pedro Morales - age 67, his wife Justina Morales, age 51, and their 6-year-old son, Caleb have...

www.websleuths.com

Right, and I go back to the idea of fugitives on the lam trying to hide from authorities.

It just seems these three people - whomever they are - were so driven to stay hidden (e.g., for protection? to avoid incarceration? avoid evil doers? retain custody of dependents?) that they opted not to come down off to either Pitkin or Ohio City, just a 2-4 hour hike down, at the first sign of trouble - like early signs of hypothermia, early signs of starvation, early signs of snow pack building up. Was it fear, wishful thinking, or naivity that kept them up there?

Unless... as others have opined, there was some acute tragedy that unfolded such as CO or food poisoning or OD en masse.

But given we have the possibility the three were related per WesternSlopeNow's accounting of the Coroner's statements, that may narrow down the possibilities to two parents and a child, one parent and two children, or siblings, etc.

 

[MrsWatson]

I'm very curious about this and how those people ended up there. If it is a family group, wouldn't someone notice an entire family dropping out of sight? If it's three unrelated people, how did they end up together and why?

Could they have been foraging and eaten something they shouldn't have? I always think of cases like Chris McCandless from Into The Wild.

There's also the factor that the past few years, with Covid, etc, have been very difficult in many ways for many people. I think of the many people who decided to do the Van Life, for example.

 

[Laughing]

Made me this of this case … family of three missing since July 11th

Family missing Little Village (Chicago), IL July 11, 2023

A family of three from the Little Village area of Chicago, IL has been reported missing after closing their business near the 2200 block of S.Kedzie Avenue and Cermak Road which is near their home. Pedro Morales - age 67, his wife Justina Morales, age 51, and their 6-year-old son, Caleb have...

www.websleuths.com

Update on the Chicago family's thread -- found safe. We don't have enough of those....

jmho ymmv lrr

 

[RedHaus]

What if the three deceased campers are related, but weren't up by Gold Creek Campground under their own volition? What if their deaths were the end result of domestic violence? I am not suggesting direct homicide per se, but maybe abandonment? Just wondering....

Check out this case of the Lutz'. The only recent unresolved missing family case I have found so far. I am NOT suggesting this case could tie into the campers' case. But it got me thinking about whether a family unit was taken up there, hidden, and abandoned. Or if one parent left in a vehicle to get supplies and never returned - intentionally or died in an accident.

Because the Lutz' disappeared in February 2023 it would be far fetched to think they were the campers because the snowpack would have been getting deep by then and roads impassible with a motor vehicle, and erecting a lean-to would be very difficult then. Unless the camp had been set up the prior summer as a retreat and a snowmobile wss used to get up there during the winter.

But the Lutz' case got me pondering such a possibility. It is a very sad case too.

IMO

Newton family of 4 missing since February; police alert FBI

NEWTON, Ill. (WCIA) – A Jasper County family of four has been missing for two months. A mother, father and their two young sons were last seen at home on February 10. While several law enforc…

www.wcia.com

 

[MrsWatson]

I thought the Lutz family were found?

Illinois Lutz family missing since February found 1,500 miles from home

The Lutz family was found alive and well in Arizona

www.independent.co.uk

 

[Ursamajr]

I thought the Lutz family were found?

Illinois Lutz family missing since February found 1,500 miles from home

The Lutz family was found alive and well in Arizona

www.independent.co.uk

They were.
Stephen Lutz, Wife and Sons Found in Arizona 2 Months After Vanishing, But Daughter Says She Is Still Worried

 

[RedHaus]

They were.
Stephen Lutz, Wife and Sons Found in Arizona 2 Months After Vanishing, But Daughter Says She Is Still Worried

OK great.That is a relief. Thank you for the update. But like I said, I didn't think at all that the campers were the Lutz family. It's the DV circumstances of the Lutz disappearance that got me wondering if such a situation may have unfolded near the Gold Creek Campground.