WASHINGTON COUNTY, Utah, Feb. 19, 2025 (Gephardt Daily) — The Utah Department of Public Safety has shared video of a weekend search and rescue operation in which one of its helicopters was able to spot a man and his son trapped on a ledge, and hoist them to safety.
A father, 33, and son, 12, got lost Sunday evening while hiking in the Red Mountain Trail area of Dammeron Valley. Family members reported them missing at about 6:30 p.m. Sunday.
Family members knew the brand of boots the two were wearing, and a recent rain had eliminated older tracks, so search and rescue crews from the Washington County Sheriff’s Office were able to find and follow tracks, Sgt. Jacob Paul, Washington County Sheriff’s Office, told Gephardt Daily.
After hours of searching and yelling, rescuers heard voices in response. They eventually found father and son huddled on a shallow rock ledge, wrapped in emergency blankets from a backpack that an earlier hiker rescued by first responders had unintentionally left behind.
“I think it was Jan. 4, so about a month and a half ago, up in that same exact area, we were able to locate a (different) male and get him off safely,” Paul said.
In that incident, the lost male had attempted to throw a backpack over a gap and then jump the gap.
“So the backpack ended up going down the hill from where he was, and he wasn’t able to locate it,” Paul said. “We rescued him, but he never did find his pack.”
It turned out that the father and son who got lost Sunday ended up stranded on the very same ledge where the other man’s backpack had landed.
“That pack had emergency blankets and supplies in it, and they were able to use those, basically, to survive until our search personnel got to them and were able to get them out,” Paul said.
“With probably over 100 square miles of Red Mountain that they could have gotten lost on, they happened to get lost in the exact same spot where that pack had fallen, and they had the resources they needed but didn’t have with them.”
Overnight temperatures were in the 30s, so father and son were unbelievably lucky to have access to blankets and supplies, Paul said. They were rescued at about 7:30 a.m. Monday.
Besides Utah DPS and the Washington County Sheriff’s Office and its Search & Rescue team, those participating in the rescue operation included Life Flight and Gold Cross Ambulance.
The father and son were checked out at the scene, but declined transport to an area hospital.
