Posted on 03/21/2006 6:02:07 PM PST by nuconvert
All Six Members of Missing Oregon Family Found Alive
Tuesday , March 21, 2006
MEDFORD, Ore. — Six family members missing in a recreational vehicle since March 4 were found alive Tuesday in a remote, snowy section of Southern Oregon, authorities said.
U.S. Bureau of Land Management workers first found two of the family members, who had decided to walk out of the woods and left the vehicle, sheriff's deputies said.
Later, search and rescue workers in a helicopter made contact with the other four, said Sgt. David Marshall, spokesman for the Douglas County sheriff's department.
A snow machine was headed into the area to pick up the four, Marshall said.
A press release from the Douglas County sheriff's office said the area "is not accessible by vehicle. There is a heavy snow pack."
The family of Pete Stivers, 29 and Marlo Hill-Stivers, 31, went missing while traveling in a 35-foot recreational vehicle from Ashland on March 4 across the mountains to the Oregon coast.
Also on the trip were their children Sabastyan, 9, and Gabrayell, 8, and Elbert and Becky Higginbotham of Arizona, whom police described as Pete Stiver's mother and stepfather.
Unsuccessful searches had focused on the U.S. 199 corridor leading south from Grants Pass. The few roads across the range in the Douglas County are narrow and windy.
The recreational vehicle apparently became stranded near the line between Douglas and Curry counties, said Marshall, the Douglas County sheriff's office spokesman.
Marshall said that Pete and Marlo Hill-Stivers walked from the recreational vehicle and enountered the BLM workers Tuesday morning.
He said the vehicle apparently was on a dirt and gravel mountain road that is sometimes used as a shortcut for trips to the coast, especially in the summer.
"But it's nothing to travel in the winter, especially
(Excerpt) Read more at foxnews.com ...
Wonderful news! I'm so glad all are safe.
Very good news indeed!
Good news!
A happy ending:')
So glad for this very happy outcome!!!!
....just in case they may need more snow.
They are SO lucky! I am really glad they are safe.
Now , WHAT THE HELL WERE THEY DOING THERE!??????? You have got to be CRAZY, I mean C R A Z Y to take a road like that in late winter Early spring! Not unless it is like 65 degrees out! Good GOD! That was STUPID! "Yea, let's take a road with no traffic through the mountains with lots of wild bears, elk and hey NO PEOPLE. Oh and Let's do it when its gonna snow in an RV and tell no one where we are going!" they could easily have died.
I'm so glad to hear they're OK.
Will they continue their trip, or do you think they've had enough "vacation" yet.
Well we know two survived. We don't know what happened to the other four.
Signed,
Albert Packer
I have a feeling they've used up all their vacation days.
Hmmmm....
Two survived without food - and 4 are missing....
Sabastyan, 9, and Gabrayell, 8, and Elbert and Becky Higginbotham
You can't get better than these names.
Suspicious?
This is a good ending to this story. When I saw their pictures, they seemed very "flower child-like" and my concern was that they'd picked up a hitchhiker.
Why good things happen to bad spellers...ping.
You left out mountain lions. I used to know that area well and was stunned to hear that an Oregonian would choose that route in winter in a 35-foot motor home. A tourist who didn't know better - yeah maybe so. It was a "here bubba, hold my beer" decision. Idiots!
Praise the Lord! Glad to hear the good news!
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