Released by: Lt. Ty Rupert, Search and Rescue Coordinator
On September 14th, 2024, at approximately 4:02pm, the Deschutes County Sheriff’s Office Search and Rescue was dispatched to a lost hiker near the summit of South Sister, Oregon.
The lost hiker was determined to be within Lane County, due to response times, Deschutes County Sheriff’s Office Search and Rescue (SAR) was requested and began a mission at 4:15pm. Lane County Sheriff’s Office Search and Rescue advised they were requesting an Oregon Army National Guard helicopter. Due to the time of day and weather the Oregon Army National Guard advised they would launch on the morning of September 15, 2024.
Initially we did not have an exact location for the lost subject and cellular telephone pings were found to be unreliable. Deschutes County Sheriff’s Office Search and Rescue requested assistance from Airlink to fly two SAR members towards the summit of South Sister in attempt to locate. The Airlink team was unable to locate the lost hiker due to fog on the summit.
On the evening of September 14th, a SAR team was activated from the Deschutes County Sheriff’s Office Search and Rescue. A 9 member SAR team began climbing South Sister and climbed throughout the night. At approximately 6:00 am, on September 15, 2024, members of the SAR team located the missing subject off the west side of the South Sister summit. The SAR team provided care for the lost climber and began warming and feeding them.
At approximately 10:30 am, the SAR team and the lost climber returned to the South Sister summit and were awaiting the Oregon Army National Guard helicopter. Weather during this timeframe was variable with sun, clouds and sleet falling.
Due to concerns with the weather blocking access to the summit by the Oregon Army National Guard another group of SAR volunteers responded to South Sister to assist our teams who had been on the mountain for nearly 24 hours in bad weather. A team of 8 Deschutes County SAR members and a team of 5 Lane County SAR members responded and began climbing South Sister to assist.
By 3:00 pm the Oregon Army National Guard helicopter had made several valiant attempts to reach the summit but were unable to reach our teams due to poor weather conditions. The decision was made for the SAR Team members to hike off the mountain with the lost hiker. The weather had turned worse and was now snowing continuously.
All SAR teams along with the lost hiker returned safely to the Devil’s Lake Trailhead. The hiker was very grateful of the efforts given by all SAR members to get them off the mountain safely.
A total of 27 Deschutes County Sheriff’s Office SAR team members and 9 Lane County Sheriff’s Office SAR team members, along with the Oregon Army National Guard and Airlink assisted to get the lost hiker off the mountain.
The Deschutes County Sheriff’s Office would like to remind the public to make sure when exploring the outdoors to always be prepared and make sure you have the proper equipment, including clothing, food, water, shelter, navigation equipment and always be prepared for the weather conditions to change.
The Deschutes County Sheriff’s Office is a full-service agency that oversees the adult jail, provides patrol, criminal investigations, civil process and search and rescue operations. Special units include SWAT, Street Crimes, Marine Patrol, ATV Patrol, Forest Patrol, along with five K9 teams. Founded in 1916 and today led by your duly elected Sheriff L. Shane Nelson, the Deschutes County Sheriff’s Office serves 210,000 residents in Deschutes County. The agency has 265 authorized and funded personnel, which includes 195 sworn employees who provide services to the 3,055 square miles of Deschutes County.
