Missing Family in Snow Mountain Range Found

Albany County Sheriff   1-19, 2016

On Saturday, the 16th of January, a family of three, a husband and wife, age 46, and their son, age 18, were snowmobiling in the Snowy Mountain Range, west of the Green Rock parking area off HWY 130. During the afternoon one of the three snowmobiles became inoperable. Due to high winds and ground blizzards the family prepared for the night by building a snow cave and starting a fire.

On Sunday morning, the 17th, the father heard another snowmobile in the area and with one of the remaining snowmobiles left camp in hopes of gaining assistance. After a period of time the snowmobile the father was operating became submerged in a body of water. The father then took the last remaining snowmobile in an attempt to find help when his handlebars broke, rendering his snowmobile useless.

Again, due to high winds and ground blizzards, the father was forced to build another snow cave for himself and spent Sunday night in the cave. On Monday morning, the 18th, the father was soon located by search teams. All rescue teams were then diverted to the general area of the father’s discovered location until major ground blizzards prevented further search efforts.

Search efforts resumed at sunrise on Tuesday morning, the 19th. At approximately 8:00 a.m., search teams located the son, at which time it was determined that the mother was deceased. The son was then transported to an awaiting Snow-Cat and shortly thereafter transferred to the Wyoming Air National Guard helicopter where he was immediately airlifted to Ivinson Memorial Hospital. The son has been transported to a Colorado area hospital for further care.