Found: Couple Stranded In Snow For 12 Days

Saved By Snow Plow Driver; Pair Used Scout Ingenuity To Keep Themselves And Dog Alive

(CBS/AP)  A couple stranded for 12 days when their truck got stuck in the snow rationed what little food they had, started the truck periodically for heat and then set off on a three-day trek in search of help.

Thomas and Tamitha Garner were found Wednesday afternoon by a snowplow driver who was clearing a road and wasn't even part of the search.

"It was absolutely wonderful to see that big yellow monster coming down the road," said Tamitha Garner during a news conference with her husband at the hospital where they were treated for dehydration and frostbite.

The Garners described their ordeal and the resourcefulness they used to get through it, finally abandoning the shelter of the snowbound truck and setting off to find safety on Monday - more than a week after getting stuck on Jan. 26.

They said they kept warm by starting fires with matches and a can of carburetor cleaner, reports CBS' The Early Show.

Thomas Garner, an Eagle Scout, said he used the seat cushions from his pickup as snowshoes and his wife followed behind in tennis shoes, sometimes up to her waist in the snow.

"My family is what kept me going," Tamitha said. "'Hold on one more day. ... One more day and I'll be home."

The couple and their dog, Medusa, were on a trip to photograph wild horses. They were last seen Jan. 26 at a gas station in the eastern Nevada town of Panaca. Later that day the truck got stuck in the snow and they had no way to call for help from the desolate area between Cedar City and St. George.

They had left their home in the Salt Lake City suburb of Kearns two days before and relatives called when they hadn't heard from them.

"We were out looking for the horses and the snow just got too deep and we couldn't get the truck turned around and so we decided to hold up," Thomas Garner said.

The Garners nibbled on the two boxes of granola bars they had brought for the trip and shared bottles of water until they decided to stop waiting out the search and go looking for help.

Remembering something he saw on a survival TV show, Thomas said he strapped the seat cushions to his feet with bungee cords and blazed a trail through the deep snow for his wife.

"The food was low, the water was just about gone, we had two frozen bottles of water left," Tamitha said. "By that time we had actually started to eat dog food to survive, so yeah it was time to do something."

Out in the open, they used a can of deodorant and lighter to ignite wood for fires during the freezing nights and hiked during the day. They finally came across the plow outside of Modena Canyon, about 60 miles west of Cedar City near the Iron and Beaver County line.

There had been an intensive air and ground search by Nevada and Utah authorities that failed to spot the couple or their truck. The area was blanketed with snow and some parts were accessible only by snowmobile.

Family members said they were ecstatic to hear of the rescue of Thomas, 40, and Tamitha, 38.

"We're gonna kiss them and caress them and then give them a piece of our mind," said Gerald Garner, Thomas' father, on his way out the door to Cedar City, about 250 miles south of Salt Lake City.

Leroy Davenport, a rescuer involved in the search, died Sunday. Authorities believed he may have been exhausted after having to dig his snowmobile out of deep mountain snow on Saturday.

Ange Garner, Thomas' sister-in-law, said the couple had learned of Davenport's death and planned to attend his funeral Thursday.

[rushlimpdrug]

Eagle scout?

Be prepared?

[erasmus6]

"We were out looking for the horses and the snow just got too deep and we couldn''t get the truck turned around and so we decided to hold up,"

Yup, there just isn''t any shortage of stupid people, is there?


"Leroy Davenport, a rescuer involved in the search, died Sunday."


Just think, a person died because of their stupidity.


Anyways, I don''t give a ***** about these two frickin'' idiots, what about the DOG!? I want to know how the dog is!

[oleander8]

TO: Posted by erasmus6

You give new meaning to the term ''whack job''.

[ioweign]

Anyways, I don''''t give a ***** about these two frickin'''' idiots, what about the DOG!? I want to know how the dog is!

Posted by erasmus6 at 11:34 AM : Feb 07, 2008


Not bad with a little Heinz 57...

[smokeandbubbles]

what happened to the dog???

[smokeandbubbles]

what happened to the dog????

[tucano2]

Presumeably the dog was breakfast lunch and dinner for several days...what would you have done to survive?

[nolalou]

according to another news site "The Garners'' dog, a Basenji mix named Medusa, also made it out and was in "great shape,"

So, if they ate the dogs food, what did the dog eat?

[countyboy21]

would more expressive and context weather alerts have been more helpful? I ask this because until recently, cautions used in the context of weather reports/statements have been very brief and more related to there visual graphics?

You folks are in my prayers & the prayers of my family! God Bless & a quick recovery!
regards.

[b-easy63]

Preparedness next time might be to read a weather report for the coming days, take flares if one is going to be in an isolated area, store excess food and water in the car and for pete''s sake don''t overestimate the toughness of your vehicle or your abilities--the horses can wait--they will probably still be there in the spring.

If snow was waistdeep, even if they had got the truck out, they could just as easily have drove over a cliff and not know it until they were airborne.

[maiingan]

Strapping seat cushions on your feet for snowshoes? That''s so 1972! People who drive into snow country in winter past a certain distance from occupied buildings and quick help, should carry snowshoes along with the rest of an emergency survival kit. I have some traditional snowshoes too, but the modern ones are easier to bring along and buy cases for. Their size is not prohibitive.

[undermyboot]

All of these thoughtful and rational posts about being prepared and making intelligent and common sense decisions are great, but these morons WERE from Utah after all....

[erasmus6]

"You give new meaning to the term ''''whack job''''." posted by oleander8

I AM A WHACK JOB? What do you call stupid people that go out on their own in heavy snow looking for wild horses? What do you call people that go out without the proper vehicle and supplies incase
something should happen? What do you call people that are so selfish to do these kinds of things without a thought about the people that are going to put their lives at risk to try and find them. And what about all the money it costs everytime this happens. And YOU are the one that has to help pay for it. A man DIED because of their stupidity and this kind of thing is happening more and more everyday. It is time that these WHACK JOBS pay the consequences of their stupidity.