Deschutes County Sheriff's Office issued the following announcement on May 16.
On 5/15/22, at about 6:04 PM, the Deschutes County 911 Dispatch Center received a 911 call from a subject who reported that her husband, her two minor children, her niece, and her niece's boyfriend were all stuck in the snow on the 4602 Rd. near Triangle Hill located west of Bend. The reporting person advised that her family was out on a 5-passenger side by side (UTV) when their vehicle got stuck and they could not self-rescue. The reporting person requested the assistance of the Deschutes County Sheriff's Office Search and Rescue team. The reporting person also advised that her family was not injured, though the weather was coming in fast, and it was starting to get dark.
A Deschutes County Sheriff's Office Special Services Deputy assigned to Search and Rescue contacted the reporting person by phone. Several text messages were then sent back and forth from the reporting person to her family for location clarification as cell service was broken, and for the most part non-existent. Two GPS coordinates were obtained of their location from the stuck family. The husband reported to have left the others in his party to get help by hiking down the mountain near Tumalo Falls to access his vehicle and gain cell reception.
At approximately 7:05 PM, a page was sent out to the Deschutes County Sheriff's Office Search and Rescue (SAR) members for this rescue mission. Two SAR members responded to the SAR team office and they loaded a tracked vehicle (ARGO) for this rescue. At approximately 7:30 PM the SAR members left the SAR team office headed to a location of the stuck family.
At approximately 8:23 PM, the SAR team reached the stuck family. With the assistance of the SAR team members, the UTV was dug free from its location and able to be driven out. The SAR team transported one of the family members in the ARGO back down to their awaiting vehicle. At 9:17 PM all of the family members were back at their vehicle and headed out of the area. The SAR team then returned to the SAR team office completing this rescue mission at approximately 10:00 PM.
The Deschutes County Sheriff’s Office is a full service agency that oversees the adult jail, provides patrol, criminal investigations, civil process and search and rescue operations. Special units include SWAT, Marine Patrol, ATV Patrol, Forest Patrol, along with five K9 teams. Founded in 1916 and today led by your duly elected Sheriff L. Shane Nelson, the Deschutes County Sheriff’s Office serves over 200,000 residents in Deschutes County. The agency has 259 authorized and funded personnel, which includes 191 sworn employees who provide services to the 3,055 square miles of Deschutes County.
Original source can be found here.
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