[Printer Friendly Version]   [How to E-mail This Article to A Friend]

WEEKLY NEWS 2: Missing Family Found After Two Weeks

A short trip in the family RV turned into a two-week ordeal for an Ashland, Oregon, family who became stranded in the mountains after a snowstorm. The six, all in good condition, were rescued on Tuesday after two of them decided to go off in search of help.

Peter and Marlo Stivers and their two children, Gabrayall, 8, and Sabastyan, 9, along with Peter Stivers’ parents, were returning from a trip to the Oregon coast when they decided to take a shortcut through the mountains. They became lost, and when four feet of snow fell, they were snowbound as well. Attempts to dig out the RV were unsuccessful, and cell phones did not work in such a remote area.

After a family member reported them missing on March 8, rescue teams began searching for them along main routes, but the rescuers had no way of knowing that the Stivers were far off the beaten path. When no progress was made, police eventually called off the search.

Fortunately, the family had started out with plenty of provisions and fuel. However, these were beginning to run low after two weeks. Stivers and his wife decided to leave Monday morning to seek help, taking with them a tent, blankets, and some canned food. On Tuesday morning, a U.S. Bureau of Land Management worker found the couple. A few hours later, rescuers located the others, and the family was reunited.

Elbert Higginbotham, Stivers’ stepfather who was on the ill-fated trip, told the Associated Press, “I’m so proud of my family. They stuck together. They didn’t lose it.”

--Written by Patricia Daniels

Write your own story telling us what you think about this article!

Read WEEKLY NEWS 3: Teachers On Strike