DCSO Search and Rescue finds overdue Sunriver-area snowshoer near Wake Butte

SUNRIVER, Ore. (KTVZ) – A Sunriver-area man overdue from a snowshoeing trip in the forest near his home was found early Tuesday morning by Deschutes County Sheriff’s Search and Rescue volunteers who followed snowshoe impressions, a deputy said.

Deschutes County 911 dispatchers got a call around 7:15 p.m. reporting the 63-year-old man had left his home southwest of Sunriver around 1 p.m. to go snowshoeing in the Deschutes National Forest west of his home but had failed to return, according to Deputy Shane Zook, assistant Search and Rescue coordinator.

A Special Services deputy and 13 SAR volunteers responded to search for the man, Zook said. Two volunteers supported mission planning and 10 others responded to the area, using snowmobiles, cross-country skis and a tracked ARGO utility vehicle in the search.

The SAR team members were able to find the man’s snowshoe impressions, heading west. He was found around 2:15 a.m. near the base of Wake Butte, then helped to a location to meet volunteers in the ARGO tracked vehicle for transport out of the forest, Zook said.

The man declined medical assistance and was safely transported back to his home, the deputy said.