A motorist had attempted to traverse a remote road in the U.S. Forest Service – Willamette National Forest in Oregon that is not maintained for winter travel. His vehicle became stuck in the snow and he did not have cell service to call for help (cell reception is very limited in many forested areas of Lane County).
Making his situation worse, his family was out of the country and nobody knew where he had gone or to call for help if he didn’t make it home.
Regardless of the circumstances leading to his situation, once stranded this person made several smart decisions.
First, he stayed with his vehicle. Rarely does anyone in Oregon die from exposure waiting in their vehicle to be found and rescued, but we have unfortunately seen many poor outcomes from those who chose to walk away.
Photo of a drone is a reenactment, not the actual setup used by the subject
Second, he used some ingenuity to find a way to call for help. The man had a drone with him and attached his cell phone to the drone. He then typed a text message to a trusted person describing his situation and exact location, hit send, and launched the drone several hundred feet into the air. The increased elevation allowed his phone to connect to a tower and send the message, which resulted in our teams being deployed and assisting him out of his situation.
While our teams were rescuing this person, another motorist who had also been stranded nearby in the snow for multiple days was located and rescued.
Source: Lane County Sheriff’s Office