...to them! :)
Posted on 12/19/2007 3:20:36 PM PST by Alouette
PARADISE, Calif. - A father and three children who vanished on a Christmas tree-cutting trip in the Northern California mountains were found alive Wednesday after huddling in a culvert for warmth during three days of heavy snowstorms.
"Our hearts are all full right now," said Cory Stahl, who owns a pest control business where the father, Frederick Dominguez, works. "It's a very merry Christmas now."
A California Highway Patrol helicopter delivered the family to safety, the two youngest children brought out of the woods first. The father smiled at family and friends, who cheered as he and his 18-year-old son emerged from their helicopter.
The two younger children, ages 14 and 12, emerged from a rescue helicopter after being flown out of the mountains Wednesday afternoon. They stepped out of the chopper and were immediately enveloped in a cluster of well-wishers carrying heavy blankets.
Stahl closed his business so he and his employees could assist the search. The four family members suffered mild to moderate hypothermia and were being taken to a hospital but were otherwise fine, he said.
The four apparently survived by huddling in a culvert, CHP officer Joe Hagerty said.
CHP pilot Steve Ward and flight officer David White found the family after spotting the word "help" stomped in the snow, Hagerty said. The helicopter was able to join the search midday on Wednesday after low-lying clouds lifted.
Searchers had hoped the family had found one of the many cabins or caves that dotted the heavily wooded and canyon-crossed area.
More than a foot of snow has fallen in the area since the family disappeared, and drifts ranged from 1 to 7 feet deep across the heavily wooded and canyon-crossed area.
The rescue teams had been racing time and the elements to find the four, as a powerful storm carrying even more snow was bearing down on the region.
Frederick Dominguez, 38, and his children — Christopher, 18, Alexis, 14, and Joshua, 12 — have been missing since Sunday in the region about 100 miles north of Sacramento. Dominguez's pickup truck was found Monday night parked along a mountain road some 25 miles northeast of Chico.
The family also appeared better equipped than rescuers initially thought. Earlier reports said the family went into the woods to cut a Christmas tree wearing T-shirts and light jackets, but all four were wearing heavy winter coats when they emerged from the helicopters, and some had wool caps.
"We're all extremely thankful and feel like we got a Christmas miracle," said Teresa Kennebeck, a secretary at Paradise High School, where Alexis is on the cheerleader squad and soccer team.
Dominguez's co-workers said he is devoted to his children and takes them to church every Sunday, as he did this weekend before heading out in search of a Christmas tree.
"He lives for his family," said Mairleen Grove, the pest company's office manager. "When he walks in the door, he makes everybody smile."
Authorities believe Dominguez and the children went to church Sunday before leaving for the mountains.
He parked his Chevrolet pickup along a road near the mountain hamlet of Inskip on Sunday afternoon, then likely walked downhill into the woods with his children and became lost, Butte County Search and Rescue spokeswoman Madde Watt said.
"You could get turned around very quickly," she said.
It was clear at the time and for hours after the family entered the woods. The first storm wave didn't hit until Monday.
Because Dominguez had custody of his children at the time, his ex-wife did not know they were missing until she discovered that her youngest child failed to show up at school Monday. Authorities were alerted at 8 p.m. Monday and immediately began a search.
They quickly found the pickup — a bare spot beneath it, indicating little snow when the trek began — but at least 8 inches of snow was covering the ground, hurting efforts to track them.
The search effort expanded significantly Wednesday morning, as snow had stopped falling for the first time since the family went missing.
It intensified as another moisture-laden Pacific storm was heading toward California, expected to blanket most of the northern state with rain and snow by late Wednesday afternoon.
About 2 feet of snow was expected to fall Wednesday night and Thursday morning in the area where the family had been missing, said Jared Leighton, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service office in Sacramento.
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What a relief.
so, where is the tree?
But how did they find them ?
Thank you God!
“The family also appeared better equipped than rescuers initially thought. Earlier reports said the family went into the woods to cut a Christmas tree wearing T-shirts and light jackets, but all four were wearing heavy winter coats when they emerged from the helicopters, and some had wool caps. “
From the report I had seen, I was sure that this was going to end badly, this is really great news.
L
What an amazing story. That family has received the best Christmas present they will ever receive. Watching those two younger kids get off the helicopter brought tears to my eyes. I was so happy for them and their loved ones.
I was just reading an article on survival in the wild. The biggest killer is “panic”. Sounds like this guy kept a level head (sign for help, sheltered) and was at least prepared a little. Even if I’m on a 2-hour hike on a trail with my kids I have a small pack that we could survive on if we had to.
They ate it. (Who remembers Ewell Gibbons?)
Sad that the marriage is a divorce.
Merry Christmas to dad and the kids and...to the mother too. It COULD have ended very badly and can only imagine how she felt when she heard they were missing. Glad all are fine and all will have a blessed Christmas full of thanks.
Praise the Lord, the lost are found. Such great news.
...to them! :)
“Some parts are edible.” (After that commercial came out, we used that line all the time.)
yes, but the sounds of it is that the mom and dad have a good coparenting relationship. So I think the whole family will be together for Christmas.
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he chocked on a pinecone didn’t he?
“But how did they find them ?”
“CHP pilot Steve Ward and flight officer David White found the family after spotting the word “help” stomped in the snow,”
“he chocked on a pinecone didn’t he?”
I thought it was a picnic table?
As Rb stated in post 20, an search crew from the air spotted the “HELP” sign stomped into the snow.
Stomp out the letters in a narrow path and they will show a shadow that contrasts with the surrounding bright white snow. Easy to spot from the air.
I am forever amazed at the number of people who can walk away from their car and get lost. They walked downhill to find the tree and got lost? I can only shake my head.
Smart taking shelter in a culvert - I wonder if they cut pine branches to block up the ends and make a bed? Would have made it a lot more comfortable.
20-some years ago my wife and I took our 8 month old daughter and headed out for a late fall backpacking overnight in New Mexico.
That night an unexpected storm dropped about a foot of snow, and so we decided to head out down-canyon 10 miles rather than try to climb back out 3 miles to our car.
We got to the parking lot and for a while sat and watched search and rescue getting organized. I went over and asked who they were looking for and it turned out it was us!
A friend had called in that we were “trapped in the mountains with a baby,” which of course we weren’t as we had everything we needed to be perfectly fine, whatever weather came along.
Don’t go into remote areas unless you’re prepared for whatever might happen.
Praise God!
Thanks for the thread.
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