October 29, 2012
From EMSWorld.com
NACHES, Wash. — A solo hunter who went missing near Bear Lake on Saturday night was found early Sunday with severe hypothermia, the Yakima County Sheriff’s Office reported.
Authorities were notified just before 10 p.m. Saturday by the hunter’s wife, who said her husband had texted her to tell her he had gotten lost hunting alone near the Bear Lake area. The area is off U.S. Highway 12, not far from the junction with State Route 410.
A sheriff’s office search and rescue team was deployed, and found his trail by about 2 a.m. Sunday. As they got closer to him, the hunter was able to fire off a couple of warning shots to help them pinpoint his location. They found him at about 3 a.m.
The 56-year-old Yakima man was completely soaked and suffering from a knee injury after apparently falling down, the sheriff’s news release said.
Rescuers found him seriously hypothermic, “confused and laying in the snow, unable to move,” according to the release.