The 14-year-old boy discovered dead alongside his mother and aunt in a remote Colorado campsite weighed just 40 pounds before he died of malnutrition and hypothermia, autopsy results revealed.
The mummified remains of Christine Vance, 41, Rebecca ‘Becky’ Vance, 42, and Rebecca’s unnamed son were discovered in the Rocky Mountains where they had gone to live off-grid to ‘escape society’.
Their camp, strewn with empty food containers and survival books, was found by a hiker going off trail in July. Exposed to several feet of snow, chills below zero and no food the family perished.
None were injured, though they were all extremely thin, the autopsy said.
The family had attempted to prepare for their new life by watching YouTube tutorials and reading survival guides.
The 14-year-old (left) weighed just 40 pounds when he died alongside his mother Rebecca Vance (second from left) and aunt Christine Vance (second from right) Their stepsister Trevala Jara (centre) said she begged them not to leave
![Trevala Jara (left) with her stepsister Christine Vance (right) posing for a photo together in July 2022](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2023/09/02/17/74992757-12473511-image-a-46_1693671208468.jpg)
Trevala Jara (left) with her stepsister Christine Vance (right) posing for a photo together in July 2022
![Rebecca 'Becky' Vance, 42, her sister and her son were discovered in the Rocky Mountains where they had gone to live off-grid to 'escape society'](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2023/09/02/17/74992875-12473511-image-a-47_1693671489258.jpg)
Rebecca ‘Becky’ Vance, 42, her sister and her son were discovered in the Rocky Mountains where they had gone to live off-grid to ‘escape society’
The Gunnison County Sheriff’s Office searched the campsite and unzipped the tent to find the bodies. All three had been dead for some time.
The average weight for a 14-year-old boy is 112 pounds, according to the CDC. The high-elevation campsite where they were found received several feet of snow and saw several days of below-zero temperatures last winter. No heaters were found in their tent.
Last summer, Rebecca convinced her sister to leave her life in Colorado Springs behind and move to the wilderness with her and her son – despite having little to none survival skills, their stepsister Trevala 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,’ Jara said. ‘And she didn’t want our sister and nephew to be alone.’
Jara, 39, said she and her husband begged her stepsisters to abandon their plan, but Becky refused.
The sisters are said to have felt that the pandemic and politics brought out the worst in humanity.
They weren´t conspiracy theorists, said Jara, but Rebecca Vance ‘thought that with everything changing and all, that this world is going to end. … (They) wanted to be away from people and the influences of what people can do to each other.’
Rebecca and Christine Vance told others they were travelling to another state for a family emergency. They told Jara of their plans, but not where they would set up camp.
![Christina Vance joined her sister and nephew living off-grid in Colorado](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2023/09/02/17/74992857-12473511-image-a-49_1693671509099.jpg)
Christina Vance joined her sister and nephew living off-grid in Colorado
![Trevala Jara begged her stepsister Christina not to make the move before her death](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2023/09/02/17/74992889-12473511-image-a-48_1693671505660.jpg)
Trevala Jara begged her stepsister Christina not to make the move before her death
![The family was found this month about 1,000 feet from a campsite in the Gunnison National Forest. They reportedly prepared for life off the grid by watching survival videos on YouTube](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2023/09/02/16/73196247-12473511-The_family_was_found_this_month_about_1_000_feet_from_a_campsite-a-40_1693669228536.jpg)
The family was found this month about 1,000 feet from a campsite in the Gunnison National Forest. They reportedly prepared for life off the grid by watching survival videos on YouTube
![Trevala Jara (pictured) says she tried to warn stepsister Christine Vance from undertaking the off-the-grid move that killed her, her sister and her teenage son](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2023/09/02/16/73735571-12473511-Trevala_Jara_says_she_tried_to_warn_stepsister_Christine_Vance_f-a-39_1693669223747.jpg)
Trevala Jara (pictured) says she tried to warn stepsister Christine Vance from undertaking the off-the-grid move that killed her, her sister and her teenage son
![The sisters had been 'discouraged with the state of the world' in recent years, and set off last summer to permanently live off the grid in the remote area](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2023/09/02/16/73194989-12473511-The_sisters_had_been_discouraged_with_the_state_of_the_world_in_-a-41_1693669238279.jpg)
The sisters had been ‘discouraged with the state of the world’ in recent years, and set off last summer to permanently live off the grid in the remote area
![The first of the three bodies was reported to authorities when a hiker came across the campsite around 20 miles from the small town of Gunnison](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2023/09/02/16/73195667-12473511-The_first_of_the_three_bodies_was_reported_to_authorities_when_a-a-42_1693669244916.jpg)
The first of the three bodies was reported to authorities when a hiker came across the campsite around 20 miles from the small town of Gunnison
Jara remembers Rebecca Vance as a bit reserved, sharp as a whip, and someone who could read through a 1,000-page book in days. Vance’s son was homeschooled and a math whiz, Jara said.
Christine Vance was more outgoing, charismatic and wasn’t at first convinced on the idea to escape society, Jara said, ‘but she just changed her mind because she didn’t want our sister and nephew to be by themselves.’
Jara said she tried everything short of kidnapping to keep them from leaving, but nothing worked. Now, Jara wants to warn others about the risks of surviving in the wilderness.
‘I do not wish this on anybody at all,’ Jara said. ‘I can´t wait to get to the point where I’m happy and all I can think of is the memories.’