BEND, OR -- Deschutes County Sheriff’s Search and Rescue teams helped two unrelated groups stranded in the snow on China Hat Road Sunday night.

The first call came in just after 8:3o p.m., regarding two overdue subjects who were attempting to pull a stuck vehicle out of the snow on China Hat Rd. near milepost 28.  The caller reported his brother and a friend left Saturday afternoon to attempt to pull out his friend’s vehicle. The caller also reported he had not heard back from his brother for approximately 24 hours. He suspected his brother and friend had been stuck overnight attempting to dig out.  The caller was concerned they needed rescue as there is no cell service in the area, and they had yet to return home. 

A Special Services Deputy assigned to Deschutes County Sheriff's Office Search and Rescue made initial phone contact with the caller and gathered additional information regarding the overdue subjects’ names, vehicle descriptions, and location.  Several calls and texts messages were sent to the overdue subjects with no response. A cell phone ping was conducted that provided general location the phone was last used, consistent with the caller’s description of their location. 

At approximately 10 p.m. Sunday, the SAR team headed to the location towing a snow tracked vehicle called an ARGO. As they responded, a second call was received by the Deschutes County Sheriff's Office Dispatch.  The second caller reported he had not heard from his two friends who drove out to China Hat Rd. near milepost 29 to recover his stuck vehicle. This second call was unrelated to the initial call, thus it was suspected that there were at least four vehicles with two separate groups stuck in the area within a mile of each other. This information was relayed to the SAR team. But, due to a limited radio and phone service in the area, it was not received.

The SAR team deployed in the tracked vehicle on China Hat Rd. near milepost 24 and made their way through the 3' ruts in the icy snow. At approximately 11:15 p.m., they reported finding a total of six people and four vehicles stuck in the snow (high centered on ice), stranded and in need of rescue.  All six stranded motorist were reported to be uninjured and did not need medical assistance. They are described as:

• 49 year old male from Bend, OR 
• 52 year old male from Bend, OR 
• 32 year old male from Sunriver, OR 
• 36 year old male from Bend, OR 
• 34 year old female from Bend, OR 
• 38 year old female from Bend, OR

The SAR team then began to shuttle everyone out of the location.  A Deputy responded to assist with transportation.  As they were brought out to the staging area, the Deputy transported two (the originally overdue subjects) where they were met by friends and taken to Bend.  The remaining four were provided with a ride by the Deputy to an address in Bend. 

After rescuing all the stranded motorist out of the area, the team returned to the SAR office, completing this rescue mission at 2:45 a.m. Monday.