Bend man, daughter rescued from vehicle stuck on snowy road near Paulina Lake

Two dogs with them also unharmed; SAR used tracked ATV to reach them

La PINE, Ore. (KTVZ) – A Bend man, his 13-year-old daughter and their two dogs were rescued Wednesday evening, about 24 hours after their car got stuck in the snow on a forest road near Paulina Lake, east of La Pine, Deschutes County sheriff’s deputies said.

County 911 dispatchers got a call shortly after 3 p.m. Wednesday from a man saying his son and the man’s 13-year-old daughter had been stuck in a vehicle since Tuesday evening somewhere near Paulina Lake, said Deputy Shane Zook, assistant Search and Rescue coordinator.

At first, it was not known what road they were stuck on, Zook said. But another family member used a phone application to locate the teen’s phone around 9 a.m. Wednesday, which showed her to be on the north side of the lake.

That was helpful, Zook said, since a Special Service deputy’s attempt to ping the man’s cellphone found it was either turned off or the battery had died.

A sheriff’s deputy and three Sheriff’s Search and Rescue volunteers responded to the scene, Zook said. The SAR volunteers went most of the way in a 4x4 pickup, then deployed the agency’s tracked ARGO ATV.

The volunteers traveled about 5 ½ miles in the ATV when they arrived at the stuck vehicle around 5:30 p.m. The man, his daughter and the dogs were unharmed and were given a ride out to the SAR pickup, then a ride to their waiting family on China Hat Road.

"The DCSO would like to remind the public to use caution when traveling on forest roads this time of year, due to snowpack," Zook said in a news release. "Road conditions vary significantly and roads can quickly become impassable.

"Further, if you are traversing in these conditions be sure to bring appropriate vehicles, equipment, lighting, clothing, food, water, navigation and communication devices," he added.