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Teen dies of apparent lightning strike in Union Parish tree stand
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BERNICE, La. (KTVE/KARD) -- A Monroe teenager was apparently killed by lightning while hunting in a tree stand on Saturday, authorities said.
Colton Gauge Honeycutt, 17, of Monroe was pronounced dead at the scene by the Union Parish Coroner’s Office.
Emergency responders from the Union Parish Sheriff’s Office, Bernice Fire Department and Pafford EMS were dispatched around 8:30 p.m. Saturday to a remote area off Robert Welch Road near the Weldon community following reports of an injury.
Responders were directed to a secluded wooded location where they discovered Honeycutt inside an elevated deer stand. Family members had initiated the search after Honeycutt failed to return home from a hunting trip that evening.
Preliminary investigations suggest Honeycutt was struck by lightning during a thunderstorm that passed through the area shortly before sunset, officials said.
This incident remains under investigation.