Authorities in Louisiana believe a teenager was struck and killed by lightning over the weekend after he failed to return home from a deer hunting trip.
The Union Parish Sheriff’s Office in Farmerville said in a statement that first responders were called to Robert Welch Road, near the Weldon community in Bernice, around 8:30 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 18, after reports of an injured person.
When they arrived, they were directed to a wooded area where they found the body of Colton Gauge Honeycutt, 17, of Monroe, inside an elevated deer stand. He was pronounced dead at the scene.
“Investigators believe Honeycutt was killed by a lightning strike when thunderstorms moved through the area, just before sunset Saturday evening,” the sheriff’s office said. The incident remains under investigation.
Colton’s uncle, Craig S. Honeycutt, shared a heartfelt tribute to his nephew on Facebook the following day.
“He perished in a very freakish act of nature yesterday while hunting,” Craig wrote on Sunday, Oct. 19. “Details keep coming in slowly, but more will be known soon and arrangements are incoming.”
“Colton did not have it easy and had his issues, but he was loved and family did what they could for him while he was on this earth,” he continued. “We humanly know not why things happen as they do. We can only lean on and trust in the Lord…We are shocked, heart broken, and saddened by this sudden loss.”
According to the National Lightning Safety Council, as reported by the Bradenton Herald, Colton’s death marks the 20th lightning-related fatality in the United States this year — and the first in Louisiana.
The tragedy comes just weeks after a similar incident in southern Colorado claimed the lives of two hunters, Ian Stasko and Andrew Porter, on Sept. 18.
The men, both 25, had been on a hunting trip in the Rio Grande National Forest. Porter last shared his location through a satellite device with his fiancée, Bridget Murphy, on Sept. 11, she told The Colorado Sun. He had been regularly sending updates to her and his family until that final message.
By Sept. 13, deputies from the Conejos County Sheriff’s Office began searching near the Rio de Los Pinos Trailhead after the pair failed to check in at a predetermined time, according to official statements.
On Sept. 18, search crews discovered the bodies of both men about two miles from the trailhead. Four days later, Conejos County Coroner Richard Martin confirmed they died after being struck by lightning, noting that their injuries reflected “a pretty intense electrical jolt.”
