The Deschutes County Sheriff’s Office received a call on Sunday that two individuals had been missing overnight after attempting to recover a stuck vehicle from the snow off of China Hat Road, according to Deputy Donny Patterson.
Patterson explains that the caller’s brother and his friend left on Saturday to help another friend get their truck but ended up getting stuck themselves.
After not receiving any communication for over 24 hours, the initial reporter called police to give descriptions of the lost men and their vehicles, according to police.
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A special services deputy assigned to Deschutes County Sheriff’s Office Search and Rescue conducted a cell phone ping that provided general location the phone was last used, consistent with the caller’s description of their location.
Deschutes County Sheriff’s Office Search and Rescue was contacted and two volunteers responded. At 10:00 PM on Sunday, the SAR team headed to the location towing a snow tracked vehicle called an ARGO.
On the way to rescue the three individuals first reported missing, the SAR team found three other separate individuals in the same situation: one friend got stuck, two friends tried to rescue them and all three ended up getting stuck in the snow.
Both groups of three friends were within a mile of each other. At 11:15 PM, the SAR team reported finding six subjects and four cars.
According to the two SAR volunteers, no one was injured.
All six made it back to their homes, according to DCSO.
