Deschutes County SO Search and Rescue comes to aid of family whose UTV became stuck in snow west of Bend
BEND, Ore. (KTVZ) – A Deschutes County Sheriff’s Search and Rescue team came to the aid of five members of a Bend family whose side-by-side UTV became stuck in the snow near Triangle Hill west of Bend on Sunday, authorities said.
County dispatchers got a 911 call shortly after 6 p.m. from a woman reporting that the UTV carrying her husband, their two children, her niece and her niece’s boyfriend became stuck in the snow on Forest Service Road 4602 near Triangle Hill, according to Deputy Donny Patterson, assistant SAR coordinator.
The caller said the family was out in a five-passenger side-by-side that got stuck and they could not extricate it, so they were in need of SAR help, Patterson said. She said they were unhurt, but that “the weather was coming in fast, and it was starting to get dark,” he said in a Monday news release.
A sheriff’s Special Services deputy assigned to SAR contacted the caller, and several text messages were sent back and forth to the family to clarify their location, as the area had broken cellphone service and it was “for the most part non-existent,” Patterson said.
Two GPS coordinates were obtained of the location. Patterson said the husband reportedly left the others to get help by hiking down the mountain near Tumalo Falls to reach his vehicle and regain cellphone reception.
A page was sent to SAR members shortly after 7 p.m. and two members responded to the team office, where they loaded a tracked vehicle (ARGO) for the rescue. They headed out around 7:30 p.m.
Less than an hour later, the team reached the stuck family, and with the help of the SAR team members, the UTV was dug out from the snow and was able to be driven out, Patterson said.
The SAR team brought one family member in the ARCO back down to their waiting vehicle, and all of the family members were back at the vehicle and headed out of the area by 9:17 p.m. The Sar TEAM returned was back at their office by 10 p.m.
