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Missing, rescued Bend man talks about snowy ordeal

KTVZ

A scary 36 hours had a happy ending for a Bend family. Joshua Richardson was stranded in the snow southeast of town overnight Sunday, but is now back home with his family.

He’s also back to work at the family business, Downtown Ornamental Iron, after a wrong turn left his pickup truck trapped in deep snow.

“I reached a junction (of Forest Service roads) 25 and 18,” Richardson recalled Wednesday, his wife Laura by his side.

“The snow was coming down so hard, I couldn’t read the whole sign and just saw China Hat. I ended up going to China Hat Butte, and not China Hat Road, which is the way home,” he said.

Richardson said spending a year in Deschutes County Sheriff’s Search and Rescue, coupled with common sense, got him through.

“The first thing I did was kind of assess what I had on me, you know? ” he said. “I knew I had enough water, I had some calories with some condiment packets that I had, and some Jelly Belly’s. So I knew I’d at least have some sustenance.”

Richardson also knew he needed a plan. He put markers leading to his truck on the road, and found an abandoned cabin, where he spent the night.

Then a moment of frustration finally led to his rescue.

“On Monday evening, I checked my phone to see if I could get any signal, and I threw it on the dash. kind of in disgust that there was no signal — and I started receiving text messages from everyone in the world,” Richardson said.

The phone connection led rescuers to him.

His wife she couldn’t help but picture the worst.

“Your mind goes to dark places when you don’t know about somebody you love tremendously. But I just kept hoping he’d be home and luckily he was,” Laura said.

The Richardsons said they appreciate the outpouring of support from their family, friends, and community.

In their news release on the rescue, the Deschutes County Sheriff’s Office reminded people to always tell someone where you’re going when you head out, make sure your car is prepared for road conditions, and carry these essential item,s in case you get stranded:

* Extra food and water
* Warm clothing, blankets and/or a sleeping bag
* Flashlight and a headlamp
* Highway flares and light sticks
* Safety vest
* First aid kit
* Fire extinguisher
* Shovel
* Tools and booster/jumper cables
* Work gloves
* Maps and a compass/GPS

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