Father Lost In Snowy Mountains Kept Faith

Dad And 3 Children Rescued After Being Lost For 3 Days In Snowstorm

(CBS/AP)  A man who was lost in the mountains along with his three children for three days during a snowstorm said he was terrified they wouldn't make it out alive, but he remained strong for his children and relied on his faith.

Frederick Dominguez and the children, who vanished while looking for a Christmas tree, were rescued Wednesday by a helicopter from a snowy ravine, just as another storm was bearing down in the foothill region about 100 miles north of Sacramento.

"You just want your kids to be safe and you're just praying, `God, keep my kids alive,"' Dominguez told reporters at Feather River Hospital in Paradise.

The rescue came as relatives and friends were starting to lose hope. One snowstorm had covered the family's tracks, and an even bigger storm was hours away from burying the four even deeper.

"I'm just amazed how well they did," Lisa Sams said after seeing her children and ex-husband for the first time since they went missing. "It was like butterflies in my stomach, like if you were going to go on a very first date."

The four appeared to be in good shape as they bounded from a California Highway Patrol helicopter that ferried them to safety in two trips; Alexis, 15, and Joshua, 12, were taken out of the woods first. Their 38-year-old father smiled at cheering relatives and friends later as he and his 18-year-old son, Christopher, emerged from the aircraft.

"They're doing great," Wendy Wilson, the children's aunt, told The Early Show. "They're all in great spirits. Their feet are a little sore. They've got feeling in their toes, and they're doing great."

They were taken to the hospital and checked for dehydration, hypothermia and frostbite, physician Kurt Bower said. They were released within hours.

"I'm surprised how good they are," Bower said. "There's a miracle from God in there somewhere."

After he had been checked at the hospital, Dominguez described three harrowing nights in the wild as he tried to keep his children from panicking and succumbing to the numbing cold. Joshua needed constant reassurance.

"I said, `Son, I would tell you what I bought you for Christmas if I thought we weren't going to make it,"' Dominguez recalled. "My kids were relying on me, and I'm scared, but you can't tell them you're scared."

The ordeal began Sunday, when Dominguez and the children left church and headed to the mountains to cut a tree for Christmas. Because the father had custody of his children at the time, his ex-wife did not know they were missing until she learned Joshua failed to show up at school Monday.

[jetlizhan]

i am so elated for this family!! saw it on the today show this morning. i was hoping against hope that they would be found, but yesterday''s news sounded mighty grim. what a wonderful Christmas for them!!!

[madeupnews]

I hope he gets a 7 foot plastic tree at Walmart from now on.

[bareemperor]

Yeah, god sent that helicopter out in freezing weather, god had all those rescue personnel save the idiot...
Doctors hear this babble a lot - god saved my life! Never mind the incredible efforts of trained professionals, doing the impossible with all their hearts...

[nothappyatall]

"The ordeal began Sunday, when Dominguez and the children left church and ..."

"Yeah, god sent that helicopter out in freezing side weather, god had all those rescue personnel save the idiot...
Doctors hear this babble a lot - god saved my life!"

"and you''re just praying, `God, keep my kids alive,"
"and relied on his faith. "

Yeah yeah another excuse to publish yet another mini bibull sermonette under the guise of a story, so what else is new? the religious krap in here is so htick you can cut it with a knife. FORGET about the trained rescue people who rescue people every day.
god saved his life?? so he could remain here in basically purgatory instead of blissfully slipping away into eternal PARADISE with his galorious god and sidekick jezus?? whats wrong with him!!
He should have been angry and upset he and the kids didn''t get to go to this perfect paradise sooner than later!!

[barbaraf4]

I''m very glad the children were spared.

God needs to save His miracles for those who check the weather before they head out on such an adventure, who take along survival gear (just in case), who carry a cell phone with a GPS chip, who believe that killing a tree is not the only way to celebrate Christmas.

[sbb2211]

BareEmperor

"Yeah, god sent that helicopter out in freezing weather, god had all those rescue personnel save the idiot...
Doctors hear this babble a lot - god saved my life! Never mind the incredible efforts of trained professionals, doing the impossible with all their hearts..."

Maybe this man''s FAITH was what gave him the strength NOT TO GIVE UP. If you know that help will eventually come, you''ll do your best to make sure that you hold on until it gets there.

You would have given up and died curled into the fetal position if you were in his place.

[marbru-2009]

For those of you who don''t believe in a gracious and caring God, that''s your privilege. But please stop criticizing those of us who do. We are as entitled to believe in God as you are entitled not to. If we''d all just live and let live, we''d have a much nicer world.

[sbb2211]

barbaraf4

"I''''m very glad the children were spared."

No. You would have preferred that the children all died so that you could post about "why did not God save the children?"

[rowdytexan2]

God blessed this family, no doubt about it!

[roger_inkart]

So, if they all would have died would it have been God''s fault?

They were stupid, careless and got lucky they were found BY PEOPLE. He''s owes nothing to God and everything to the rescue team.

[cosmicfluke]

yeah, it was God (Christian Version) that rescued them, it must have been Satan who led them down the wrong trail?
whatever.
At least the stupid people are alive to be stupid another day.

[schwagnation]

"Yeah, god sent that helicopter out in freezing weather, god had all those rescue personnel save the idiot...
Doctors hear this babble a lot - god saved my life! Never mind the incredible efforts of trained professionals, doing the impossible with all their hearts..."

I am by no means a religious person. But, couldn''t the love and caring nature in those rescuers'' hearts be God?

[hawksprings]

Well, about 4 years ago, Algore said with his Global Warming that we soon would not have winter anymore, so stories of people getting lost in the snow in the mountains will soon be a thing of the past.
When that happens we''ll be hearing stories of how they forgot their sunscreen and got sunburned to death.
haha

[hawksprings]

Actually, it was 7 years ago in ALgore''s book "Earth In THe Lurch" where he said we wouldn''t have winter anymore.

[nananora]

I was listing to a song today that one of my friends sent me titled HELLO GOD, I sure wish I had these non believers e-mails so that I could send it to them, then maybe they would have a different perspective as if there is a god or not, they could just read the words along with her singing and this is what out would has come to, SO SO SAD

[oscarez]

Well, about 4 years ago, Algore said with his Global Warming that we soon would not have winter anymore

Posted by hawksprings at 09:36 AM : Dec 20, 2007

What is your Source?

[oscarez]

God does not exist except in the minds of people who wish to believe he exist.

[neenga]

Please, everyone, stop the proselytizing. This is a very happy ending for everyone, so just be happy for them and leave yourselves out of it!

[ioweign]

I hope he gets a 7 foot plastic tree at Walmart from now on.

Posted by MadeUpNews at 08:41 AM : Dec 20, 2007

Really - I wonder what the rescue cost is going to be for their wanting to be like the Waltons. He put his children in harms way !!

[papabc]

OK! Family outing gone bad. How many of us start out traveling in the mountains or desert for an outing? We do.

How many actually take emergency supplies just in case something happens: Food, Water, and Blankets, Flash light (new batteries), cell phone or two way radio and so on.

My wife and I were driving between Phoenix and LA when we came across a family about 11AM, car broke down. No tools or parts to repair the car. At 110+ deg they had no water or food and didn''t want to use the road side emergency phones. Lucky for them we had 4 gals of water with us and spare snacks to share. I also walked to the emergency phone, against the fathers wish, then call help for them. Stupid man that he was for not preparing for the journey.

I do not think the whole family would have survived without some help.

[papabc]

Really - I wonder what the rescue cost is going to be for their wanting to be like the Waltons. He put his children in harms way !!

Posted by IOWEIGN at 10:34 AM : Dec 20, 2007
===========================

If he can not pay then WE the tax payer will foot the bill.

[ioweign]

God does not exist except in the minds of people who wish to believe he exist.

Posted by Oscarez

-Prove he doesn''t exist Oscar.

Posted by singinrick at 10:34 AM : Dec 20, 2007

That is simple - George W. Bush.

What god would let that occur ??

[oscarez]

"WE ARE ALL ENDOWED BY OUR CREATOR"

singinrick your creator was your mother and father not god. If you chose to believe in god that''s ok just don''t try to force him on those of us that don''t believe.

[babsann28]

sorry to say no so bright father, marry christmas

[jackie0428]

Al Gore broke his promise to us all. He promised us warming, instead we got snow. Gore almost killed this family! It''s Gore''s fault!!! Wait, it''s Bush''s fault. He cut funding to helicopter rescue teams and almost killed them. Yes, that''s it. I''m sooooo confused.

[barbaraf4]

barbaraf4

"I''m very glad the children were spared."

"No. You would have preferred that the children all died so that you could post about "why did not God save the children?"" Posted by SBB2211
~~~~~~~~~~~~
Darling, you are projecting. I meant *exactly* what I said.

[dogband]

I am indeed very glad this had a GREAT ending, much better than anyone had hoped.

It should go w/out saying... but obviously still actually needs saying:

Take proper supplies in your vehicle.

Keep an extra $1 gallon of water in the car.

Keep extra space blankets in the vehicle, these cost $2 each.

Take a day pack, flashlight and matches, and food ABSOLUTELY ANYWHERE FOR ANY DISTANCE IN THE WOODS.

Tell at least two people where you are going, when you are going to return, and that you will call them when you get back, and have a pre-planned cut off time---if you have not called by then, they should both alert authorities.

Stay on marked trails if you do not know orientation procedures.

So here we have 30 minutes of preparation type activities, $25 total worth of supplies [day pack, flashlight, space blankets, etc] that could very easily mean the difference between life and death of you and your children.

Think people, plan ahead.

[jetlizhan]

dogband -

EXECELLENT ADVICE!! i keep blankets, thick boat ropes, flashlights and water in my car at all times.

[eggy1620]

Clark. . . when are you and the kids going out to get the tree?

[denken43]

THE PILOTS COMMENTED IT WAS LUCK THAT THEY SAW THEM RIGHT BEFORE THEY WERE GIVING UP,NO LUCK AT ALL, ALMIGHTY HAND OF GOD (PERIOD)

[dowjones20k]

Glad this potential trajedy came to a happy conclusion .. However .. it is just another example of why some folks should remain at home and stay out of the woods ...

I think these children were scared to death no matter what their father said to them .. after all they are young adults .. and probably wondering what the heck this knucklehead got them into ... maybe an artificial tree is in the future for this family?

Wonder how much money that little excursion cost the taxpayers of California?

Merry Christmas !!

[jodebrick]

I am very glad these people were rescued and are all ok. HOWEVR, doesn''t anyone think it''s wrong to go into state lands and STEAL a tree? Aren''t there laws protecting our state forests? Can anyone just go into the forest and cut down trees for their own personal use? I just don''t get it!

[bareemperor]

Wasn''t it nice that Dubya let god work a miracle in california... ok, back to delivering democracy and christianity to Iraq...

[besttyper]

All perfect parents out there need to step forward. The poor man never intended for himself and his children to get lost, the same as you cannot watch your kids 24/7. Accidents happen. I used to commute 70 miles round trip everyday, so I put together a very extensive survival kit with food, water, blankets, jumper cables, blankets, flashlights, radio, etc. Now that I''ve moved close to work, I still carry that survival kit. I live alone, but someone always knows where I''m going if I''m going very far, and I keep my cellphone fully charged. Use common sense and you will be safer.

[droverly]

"God does not exist except in the minds of people who wish to believe he exists."

This is true.

[godofredo29]

Hijole. I agree that soon the father will be catching all sorts of c r a p from the media about taking the kids into the woods to cut down a tree. The media is just waiting until after Christmas. (What does that say about our news?)

[ptruth2]

Although no one intends to get lost, most people do have enough sense to figure out how not to do that, such as staying within sight of their car or truck, or using some landlmarks. This father is a fool, especially since he was with his kids who are depending upon him not to lead them into danger. How can you do something so stupid with kids????

[pinpo12]

I think the father is pretty stupid to go out and chop down a tree when a big storm is heading his way, bringing his children was even more foolish on his part, even a blind man has enough sense to stay out of bad weather, the father should be charged with child endangerment...

[marcpcbs]

First of all I want to say that I''m glad that every body is OK.

Now. I wonder why it is that a father drags his kids out into the middle of nowhere, in the middle of winter and in the middle of a snowstorm without checking the weather report.

He puts his kids in serious danger and becomes a hero because he got lucky and was found. I think the helicopter pilot should be getting all the praise not the dad.

Advise to the mom. Don''t let dad take the kids on any more treks.

[evadk-2009]

Although it sounds like the tree-cutting trip was ill-planned and ill-advised, I will say that I''ve been in situations where I''ve seen how easy it is for people to get disoriented in the woods, even in less remote areas. There would be things to do to try to get re-oriented, but given the apparent lack of outdoors experience of this family, their "staying put," seeking shelter in the culvert, and making the "HELP" sign probably was a very good mix of things to do.

It''d be interesting to see a somewhat longer description of what they did while lost ... for example, did they eat anything? drink anything? do other things to seek help? have a fire at all? Etc.

[countrybumki]

I know from personal experience how easy it is to get disorented in the woods & it seems the storm came out of nowhere. As for ''getting a free tree''. Last time I checked you had to get a permit, which costs money, to cut down a fresh tree. It is a great experience and will provide long lasting memories. Although this trip provided many more then they ever imagined they would get! God bless them all and thank HIM they returned home safely. Leave them alone and be happy. Is that such a hard thing to ask nowadays??? Merry CHRISTmas!

[countrybumki]

Jodebrick...there are places you are ALLOWED to cut Christmas trees at and this is a place where many people do just that!!!!! Guess I shouldn''t be so harsh as to expect a city slicker, tree hugger to understand this.

[countrybumki]

OK, now for those who pack the ''survival kit'' in the car.....how many of you take it out of the car and CARRY it with you when you leave your vehicle??? How much good would it do you if it is in the vehicle and you get ''misplaced'' from your vehicle. Come on people. An extra pair or 2 of socks in the pockets, maybe...but would you take the blankets and flashlight and all the food and the first aide kit and....do you get the point here?

[rudy654-2009]

I''m glad these people were discovered. It reminds me of the sad situation of the man who went in search of help on an Oregon road, while his family stayed behind. That ended tragically. However, people really have not come to understand that the Northern California mountains and the Siskiyous and Cascades can became dangerous in winter. People just seem to come unprepared.

[thgdriver]

Ok, whats done is done, we can all look back and ask, How stupid was that? The last thing this father wanted to do was harm his children or himself. This is exactly what I feel search and rescue is for, accidents and stupid mistakes like this father made I don''t mind paying for.

Thrill seekers who climb mountains or go off hiking in the wilderness for sport should have to pay to be rescued. They want to spit in deaths eye? Fine, but leave the cell phone home then!!!

[bcbbkake]

Being a city girl most of my life, surrounded by humanity and a payphone on every corner, survival gear was the last thing on my mind. Now that I have lived in the mountains for 10 years, and have studied The Word much longer than that, I feel somewhat qualified to comment here on everyone else''s comments. For those of you who would think the father was an idiot, I would like to remind you that hindsight is always 20/20. For those of you concerned with the cost of the search, I would like to remind you that the profiteers in Iraq have stolen a million times more. For those of you who don''t believe that God has a gentle, guiding hand in your life, I weep. I have regard for you, even if you have none for me. And only time will tell if either one of us is a fool.

[joyous88]

Why is it that ebery christian in the US takes very chance like this that comes up to try to sell the rest of us his "faith". If you want to get on TV these days just get in a fender bender or do something stupid in the mountains and THEN say the words "faith" or "miracle" and WOW you are on TV
sucking up for the evangelicals.

HEY! Want to know the real truth?

If your GOD were TRUE you would have no need to sell him to me.

[thgdriver]

For those of you who would think the father was an idiot, I would like to remind you that hindsight is always 20/20.

Hindsight does not apply here, that was a very foolish thing he did, while I do not think him an idiot, he was foolish, they are lucky to be alive.

[bareemperor]

let''s see...

The almighty allowed this to happen, knowing ''he'' would be praised and thanked for the outcome...

smart ''being''!

or maybe we should finally learn a lesson from history:
all gods once worshipped are dead now.

[likeitis5050]

Not wanting to tick anti-believers off, or offend any who purposefully look for any sign of faith-based tidbits in any message board so they can justify crying ''foul'' because it infringes on their right to be grumpy and pi.ssy all day and all night, and being careful not to awaken those who tolerate any and everything except anything Christian...let me just say how nice it is to have a happy ending for a change.