CHELAN COUNTY, Wash. – After finding impressions in the snow indicating that someone had fallen down a rocky slope and into a river, Chelan County deputies devised a plan to climb down and rescue them.
The rescue happened after the deputies responded to a late night car crash on Icicle Road in Leavenworth on Jan. 3. One of the cars involved in the crash had driven from the scene.
Deputies found the car about a mile down the road but could not find the driver, they said in a report released on Friday. They recalled how a witness told them the driver had walked off the side of the road.
Then deputies saw marks in the snow indicating that the person might have fallen off the road.
Videos from the Chelan County Sheriff’s Office show that deputies operated in the dark with snowflakes falling around them.
The deputies decided to tie a rope to the bumper of their patrol video so one of them could climb down the steep, rocky embankment.
With one hand on the rope and another holding a flashlight, a Chelan County deputy climbed down the embankment, occasionally stopping to search for the fallen driver.
The deputy found the driver near the bottom of the embankment, stuck between two rocks and half submerged in water. The deputy reported that the driver would likely become hypothermic if they remained there for too long.
Deputies worked together to free the driver and bring them back up to the side of the road, the Chelan County Sheriff’s Office said.
The driver was given medical attention and was determined to be hypothermic. The Chelan County Sheriff’s Office said the driver might have died in the river if they had not been rescued.
“The selflessness of these deputies by putting the safety of others before their own, is a testament of their dedication to their fellow man and citizens of our county,” wrote the sheriff’s office.
