Editor's note: The Gunnison County Coroner's Office identified the deceased people as 42-year-old Rebecca Vance and 41-year-old Christine Vance. A 14-year-old boy's name is not being released.
DENVER (AP) — Authorities say the badly decomposing bodies of three people have been found in a remote Rocky Mountains camp in Gunnison County, and that they may have been lying there since late last year.
Gunnison County Sheriff Adam Murdie said a hiker contacted the sheriff's office just before 5 p.m. after they had found a remote campsite with a "heavily decomposed deceased individual."
Investigators with the sheriff's office arrived at the campsite around 8 a.m. the following day and found two additional decomposing bodies.
The sheriff said two of the bodies were inside a small, zipped-up tent and the other was outside in the camp, which was in a remote wooded area where hikers typically wouldn’t pass by.
The bodies were found 1,000 or more feet from the Gold Creek Campground, according to the Montrose Daily Press.
The three individuals appeared to have been deceased for a long time. Their identities have not been released as of Wednesday afternoon. The cause of death is not yet known.
Murdie said the sheriff’s department is looking for missing persons reports that might shed light on the situation. Autopsies could take three weeks or more.
