PRESS RELEASE
09/18/08
Burnt Creek Search
On September 18, 2006 at approximately 1328 hours the Gallatin County Sheriff’s Office received a call from a female resident of Bozeman that her husband had been hunting in the canyon area and she received some troubling messages from his Spot Satellite. She reported that he and a friend had been hunting for the last three days and her 32 year old husband had been sending her “I’m OK” messages from the Spot Satellite. She reported that between the hour of 0900 and 1000 hours on September 18, 2008 she received six “I need help messages” from her husband’s Spot Satellite. The Spot Satellite’s come equipped with an “I’m OK” button, an “I need help” button and a “911” button that ends up in the local 911 center. The other two
buttons send an email message to whomever the subscriber chooses. The caller stated that she and her husband had worked out a message if he should harvest an animal and needed help retrieving it. The victim’s hunting partner had split up from him earlier in the day and had already exited the area and returned to Bozeman. The caller reported that some friends of her husband had gone up looking for him at the last known coordinates that accompanied the email from Spot Satellite.
Gallatin County Search and Rescue was activated and a team of four members started working their way to the last known position. The victim showed up at the trailhead a short time later and spoke to a Search and Rescue Member. The victim stated that he was fine and was never in need of help. He had harvested an elk, and was attempting to send his wife a message as such. The code that they had come up with before he left on his trip was that if he harvested an elk and needed help packing it out he would send her an “I’m OK” message followed by an “I need help” and then another “I’m OK” message. He later discovered that if you send an “I need help” message the system keeps sending the message until the unit is turned off. He also discovered that an “I’m OK” message doesn’t send immediately and if you send an “I need help” message it will override the “I’m OK” message and not send it.
The victim located his friends that had gone looking for him and everyone made it out of the mountains without incident.
PRESS RELEASE
09/16/08
Garnet Mountain Rescue
On 09/16/08, at approximately 1:45 p.m., members of the Gallatin County Sheriff Search and Rescue, Big Sky Division, Central Valley Fire Department, and the U.S. Forest service responded to the Garnet Mountain Trailhead on Storm Castle Road for a backcountry rescue.
It was reported that a 64-year old female had slipped on the trail and broke her leg. The accident occurred approximately one mile from the trailhead.
Paramedics and the Gallatin County Sheriff’s Office Search and Rescue located the injured female. She was stabilized and transported to the trailhead. Central Valley Fire Department transported her to Bozeman Deaconess Hospital.
PRESS RELEASE
09/14/08
Fairy Lake Search
On September 14, 2008, the Gallatin County Sheriff’s Office responded to and coordinated two separate search and rescue events within approximately one-hour of each other.
At 1327 hours, the Sheriff’s Office received a second-hand report regarding two adult females who had become lost in the Mt Ellis area. They stated that they could see the “M” and cow pastures in the valley, but were unable to locate a trail. The two females subsequently found a trail and had walked out of the area on their own by the time members from the Gallatin County Sheriff’s Office Search and Rescue arrived on scene. The females appeared uninjured.
The second incident occurred at approximately 1435 hours. The Gallatin County Sheriff’s Office received a 911 call stating that a 58 year-old male on the top of Sacajawea Peak was feeling ill. The reporting party stated that the male was complaining of chest pain and tingling in his arm.
Members of the Gallatin County Sheriff’s Office Search and Rescue team were dispatched to the area, along with a helicopter rescue team. While staging at the Fairy Lake trailhead, the helicopter rescue team located the victim on the trail.
At approximately 1607 hours, the victim was in the helicopter and on the way to the hospital. He arrived at the hospital a short time later, and was evaluated by the ER staff.
PRESS RELEASE
08/02/08
Grotto Falls Search
On 08-02-08 at approximately 1:15 p.m., the Gallatin County Sheriff’s Office received a report of a lost 11 year-old boy in the area of Grotto Falls. A Bozeman family had been hiking the Grotto Falls area when the 11 year old, who has Asperger’s Syndrome (a form of autism), wandered off at about 1130 hours.
The mother hiked out and stayed with her three other children at the trailhead, while the father continued to look for the boy. At the time of call the boy had been missing about an hour. Gallatin County Sheriff’s Search & Rescue, Big Sky Division was activated and a Gallatin County deputy responded and acted as the Incident Coordinator.
A Search & Rescue member arrived on scene and started up the trail on an ATV. After approximately a half-mile, he located the 11 year-old with his father walking back down the trail. The father had found the boy and continued out to the trailhead. All parties were in good health and the event was successfully ended.
PRESS RELEASE
07/27/28
Overdue Hikers Found
On July 26, 2008 at approximately 2210 hours a woman came into the Big Sky Sheriff’s Office to report that her 23 year old daughter and her 24 year old boyfriend had not returned from a day hike up North Fork Trail. The woman reported that she had dropped them off at the trail head in Big Sky at around 1100 hours. They were to either return to the trailhead at 1700 hours, or they were going to call her if they decided to come out in Beehive Basin. The reporting party stated that she had not received any phone calls from them and could not reach them by cell phone. They were all from Florida but had a residence in Big Sky for the last 20 years and her daughter reportedly knew the area they were in well. Both subjects were wearing shorts and t-shirts, with backpacks and
a small amount of food and water. They were also traveling with two dogs. Gallatin County Search and Rescue was activated. Members from Gallatin County Search and Rescue responded and started to search the area by foot and by motorcycle. At around midnight the daughter called her mother and told her that they were at Spanish Creek and US Hwy 191. A Deputy Sheriff responded and met with the two overdue hikers. Apparently they had decided during the day to hike over the top and come out Spanish Creek without telling anyone of their plans. They were counseled on changing plans while in the backcountry without telling anyone. Both subjects and their dogs were uninjured and returned to their parents.
PRESS RELEASE
7/24/08
Mountain Biker Transported
On Thursday July 24 at about 5:00 pm the 911 center received a report of a mountain biker who had crashed and was injured on the Bozeman Creek trail about 3 miles from the trail head. Gallatin County Sheriff’s Search and Rescue along with the Rae Sourdough Fire Dept and AMR ambulance service responded to the scene. Sheriff’s Deputies opened the gate at the trail head allowing Search and Rescue to transport the Ambulance Crew up the trail to the patient. They found a 62 year old Bozeman man with a head injury about 2.5 miles up the trail. He was transported back to the trail head by Search and Rescue vehicle and transported to Bozeman Deaconess Hospital by AMR. No details of the crash were available at the time of the press release. The patient was at the
hospital within 1.5 hours of the 911 call. The patient was wearing a helmet. The 911 call was made by another user of the trail who had to go down the road to find a phone.
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