The teenage boy whose body was found in the Colorado wilderness after he tried to survive off the grid along with his aunt and mother weighed just 40 pounds a the time of his death, according to a newly released autopsy report.
The unidentified 14-year-old died alongside his mother Rebecca Vance, 42; and his aunt Christine Vance, 41, sometime after the trio decided to abandon civilization in Colorado Springs last summer despite having little outdoor survival experience.
All three died of malnutrition and hypothermia, according to the Gunnison County Coroner’s Office autopsy reports obtained by the Colorado Sun.
The young boy wasted down to less than half of the average weight of boys his age which is 112 pounds, according to the CDC.
Empty food cans and survival guides littered the remote campsite in Gunnison County where the bodies were discovered in July but there was no food — or heaters — in sight, the Sun reported.
A hiker found the boy’s mummified body on July 9 near Gold Creek Campground and investigators who responded discovered the remains of his aunt and mother inside a blue tent at the isolated encampment more than 100 miles from their former home in Colorado Springs.
The stepsister of the two women previously told The Post that the teenager had mixed feelings about his mother’s plan to live off the land.
“He was scared and excited at the same time,” Trevala Jara said in late July. “He was only 13 when they left. He didn’t know what living off the grid entails at all, but he wanted to be with his mom.”
Jara said that his mother Rebecca wanted to start a new life by escaping to the wilderness and convinced her younger sister to join them.
“It was Becky’s idea,” Jara said. “At first Christine didn’t want to go, but she changed her mind. She felt like they had a better chance at living if she went with them. And she didn’t want our sister and nephew to be alone.”
Rebecca — who was described by her relatives as an introvert who was not particularly outdoorsy — couldn’t be swayed from her plans despite the family’s pleas, Jara added.
The single mom refused to tell family members where they planned to camp out or how they would survive Colorado’s harsh winters. The family left without much preparation aside from watching YouTube videos on how to survive in the great outdoors, according to Jara.
The trio were reported missing in October.
All of their bodies were extremely thin and significantly decomposed, according to the autopsy reports. The coroner said they likely died sometime last winter.
Each was wearing several layers of clothing and necklaces with cross pendants around their necks, the reports state.
The campsite where the bodies were found was slammed with heavy snowfall and several below-freezing days last winter, the local newspaper reported.
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