Sheriff’s officials in Arizona are investigating the deaths of two high school students found in a national forest outside Phoenix after they failed to return from a Memorial Day camping trip.
Both had died from gunshot wounds, according to KNXV-TV, which cited the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office.
And both were being mourned by their families and their school community.
Pandora Kjolsrud, 18, was described by her mother in a message to KNXV-TV as “a bright light in this world who loved every single person she met and had an unusual ability to make every person she met feel special and loved. She was a friend to many and a beloved daughter. She lived life in a big way and was always up for an adventure.”
The other teen has been identified by family and friends as 17-year-old Evan Clark.
In an interview with KSAZ-TV, a co-worker of Clark’s called the deaths a “tragedy.”
“You just cherish all the memories and the laughs,” the co-worker said. “His life was cut very short, and so was Pandora’s. They were very young, and it was just so sudden and a tragedy that you wouldn’t even imagine.”
A classmate of Clark’s told the station “it doesn’t really feel real.”
“I was just in class with him, not even a week ago,” the classmate said.
Hellbound and Down 