Jon Johnson File Photo/Gila Herald
GCSO and AirEvac team up to find lost bow hunters/locals find missing hunting family
By Jon Johnson
GRAHAM COUNTY – A collaborative effort from law enforcement, search and rescue, AirEvac and local citizens resulted in finding two lost hunting parties in two separate incidents recently.
On Dec. 29, a Graham County Sheriff’s Office deputy was dispatched at about 6:35 p.m. to the area of Jackie’s Well on Cedar Springs Road regarding a pair of missing bow hunters who were in a white, 2005 Chevy Duramax pickup truck that had broken down and was stuck. The pair had reportedly been broken down in the area since 10:30 a.m.
The deputy coordinated with one of the hunter’s father, who said he had parts to fix the truck but couldn’t find them.
After requesting the father to meet him at Klondyke Road and Cedar Springs Road, the deputy paged Graham County Search and Rescue and established a command post. At about 10 p.m., search teams were sent to attempt and locate the missing hunters.
As the time neared midnight, the deputy contacted AirEvac and asked if they would be willing to fly over the area. The helicopter crew spotted the hunters and their truck at about 12:30 a.m. stuck in the mud and relayed the coordinates to the SAR. Ground teams then drove to the hunter’s locations and brought them back to the command post to be reunited with family members.
Upon arrival, one of the hunters said the truck had initially broken a tie rod but they were able to repair it and tried to return to Klondyke Road through the Cedar Springs/Goat Wash area but encountered a locked gate. The hunter said they turned around but by that time the snow had melted and they got stuck in the mud.
The deputy advised that the hunter would have to coordinate with the landowner to retrieve his truck.
Locals find missing hunting family
A father and his two sons were found on the morning of Dec. 28, after being located by some local men who had gone searching for them.
According to a Graham County Sheriff’s Office report, the father and his two sons hadn’t been heard from since about 6:30 p.m. the previous day after they had gotten a deer and were supposedly on their way back.
A deputy spoke to the missing man’s wife at about 3:10 a.m. and learned that he was known to hunt the area of McEuen Ranch. She also advised that three local men had gone off to search for the missing family.
A ping from the missing hunter’s cell phone was time-stamped at 6:45 p.m. the following day and gave the searchers a possible starting point.
While getting ready to launch SAR however, the GCSO was informed that the local search party of three men had found the missing hunters and they were returning home.
According to Blain Brown, he and another local man had been searching for the missing party since about 12:30 a.m. and spotted their fire a couple of miles north of the McEuen ranch house at about 5:15 a.m. The area is a few miles from the border with the San Carlos Apache Reservation.