The cause of death has been released for two Albemarle County natives and James Madison University graduates whose bodies were found after an extensive search in Colorado.
Andrew Porter, 25, of Asheville, N.C., and Ian Stasko, 25, of Salt Lake City, Utah, were killed by lightning when an intense storm rolled in on Sept. 12. After an extensive search operation, their bodies were found on Sept. 18 underneath a large tree.
The Conejos County coroner told multiple news sources that the two men did not sustain a direct strike from lightning, but it likely struck the tree and traveled to them through the ground, killing both in a “split second.”…