Authorities have confirmed that the two young Colorado elk hunters who were found dead after a six-day search were killed by lightning.

Conejos County Coroner Richard Martin told The Colorado Sun that the two men were found below a tree and had slight burns on their bodies.

He said they likely died instantly from the lightning strike.

“That kind of death is just instant. It’s like you’re alive and now you’re not,” Martin said. “Just that quick. Split second.”

According to 9news.com, the 25-year-old men went missing on September 12 while hunting in a rugged area of the San Juan mountains.

Loved ones last heard from Andrew Porter, of North Carolina, and Ian Statsko of Utah, on Thursday, September 11. Severe storms moved into the area that evening.

Bridget Murphy, Porter’s fiancée, told The Colorado Sun that both Porter and Stasko were experienced outdoorsmen who got caught in the storm.

“It is OFFICIAL, that a lightning strike to the ground took them in an instant. They didn’t do anything wrong, they didn’t feel fear or pain,” Murphy wrote in a Facebook post. “He was just trying to get back to the car as storms rolled in on Friday – September 12. It was out of everyone’s hands, and I am so grateful we found them so they can be at peace. He was an experienced outdoorsman, who was in the wrong spot at the wrong time.”

The experienced hunters had been using a Garmin InReach satellite device to communicate, but it reportedly stopped working.

According to Saguache County Search & Rescue, their bodies were discovered after an extensive search that included several agencies along with volunteers on horseback and foot.

9NEWS Senior Meteorologist Chris Bianchi said a storm hit the area hard around 4 p.m. Sept. 12, causing temperatures to dip into the 30s and, later, into the 20s as heavy rain turned to snow. Wind gusts reached 40 to 50 mph.

The storms continued through Sept. 13 before finally clearing on Sept. 14.

The two were expected to leave the area on Monday and fly home on Tuesday.

On Wednesday, dozens of search teams gathered to look for the hunters, whose bodies were found approximately two miles away from the trailhead on Thursday morning in a remote area with an elevation of at least 10,000 feet. Their campsite was at approximately 11,400 feet.