Search & Rescue Called Out On Two Separate Incidents

Beaverhead Search and Rescue News

Submitted by Kolby Malesich: Commander

Beaverhead Search and Rescue was called out for a search for a missing hiker early evening Thursday September 11^th.  A hiker had gotten separated from her family climbing Comet mountain late that afternoon.  A storm came thru and family members could no longer see or hear their missing family member and nightfall was near.   The unit dispatched 4 teams who connected with local Grasshopper Valley VFD volunteers and then searched throughout the night on foot and with UTV’s, drones, and member vehicles.   The unit also leveraged Air National Guard resources from Malstrom AFB to search the area…they were unable to locate hiker as hiker lacked flashlight or other signaling methods that would have enabled a quick recovery.  The missing hiker was eventually found alive & uninjured Friday mid-morning and S&R teams assisted them off the mountain.   The hiker was fortunate for relatively mild temps and conditions overnight.  A total of 18 members participated in this search that took approximately 18 hours start to finish.   Thanks to Steve Mock, Josh Yeadon, Dusty Crowe, Jack Bazemore, Adam Norlander, David Broadhead, Charles Weidow, Kolby Malesich, Cole Cottom,  Evan Helle, Mark Smith, Alex Dunn,  & Charles Wharton for responding as well as Brad Wagner, Zane Wood, Jason Erikson, and Tara Remely for serving as Incident Command.  Special thanks to Grasshopper Valley Fire Department for helping coordinate the initial phase of the search and for use of their building to support resource coordination.   

On September 18^th, S&R was called out in the morning to find a hunter who was hunting alone in Gibbonsville area west of Wisdom.  He’d been messaging his family via Garmin InReach 2-3 times a day during his trip but then unexpectedly stopped day prior, causing concern for out of town family members.   S&R dispatched 4 teams and the hunter was eventually found safe & sound near his campsite.   It was later determined that the hunters InReach had needed a reset and had become unable to send additional messages.   Thanks to MD Peterson, Darby Peterson, Jake Peterson, Steve Mock, Josh Yeadon, Jack Bazemore, James Matthews, Trent Cottom, Jason Erickson for responding and Brad Wagner, Russ Sigman, and Tara Remely for serving as Incident Command.

On Sunday September 28^th, S&R hosted approximately 17 young people for our first annual Youth First Aid & CPR training.   Janelle Handlos taught the CPR & First Aid portions of the training, and S&R members also touched on some basic principles for how to not get lost in the wilderness but also some basic steps to take if you do.  It is our hope to offer this to youth in our community annually.   Thank you to Janelle Handlos for partnering with S&R on this event and to the S&R Events Team for hosting a great event.