Aspen, CO – ASPEN – Carbon monoxide poisoning, rather than lightning, may have killed a father and son camping near Aspen.
The bodies of 41-year-old Jeffery Beard and 14-year-old Cameron Beard, both of Colorado Springs, were found in their tent south of the Maroon Bells parking lot Wednesday morning. Beard’s teenage daughter and another son, who were in another tent, weren’t injured.
Flight-for-Life lifted the bodies of the victims out of the campground.
Pitkin County coroner Dr. Steve Ayers told the Aspen Daily News that there apparently was a lightning strike there, and Pitkin County Sheriff’s Office originally thought lightning caused their deaths.
But the Beards may have also been running a small stove in their tent, so the coroner will have to wait until toxicology tests look for the presence of carbon monoxide in their bodies.
The results aren’t expected for at least two weeks.