Released by: Dep. Shane Zook, Assistant Search And Rescue Coordinator
Occurred: 12/30/2020 3:08 PM
Location: Forest Service road, north of Paulina Lake
Rescued: Thompson, Paul, Bend, OR, 37 yo male
Thompson’s 13 yo daughter
NARRATIVE:
On 12/30/20 at about 1508 hours, Deschutes County Dispatch received a 911 call from a male stating that his adult son, Mr. Paul Thompson, and Thompson’s 13 year old daughter, were stuck in a vehicle somewhere near Paulina Lake. The caller stated that the two individuals had been stuck since the evening of 12/29/20. It was initially unknown what road the vehicle was stuck on, however, another family member had used a phone application to locate the 13 year old female’s phone at 9:00 AM, which showed her to be on the north side of Paulina Lake. This turned out to be very helpful because when a Special Services deputy attempted to ping the individuals cell phone, the phone was either turned off, or the battery had gone dead.
One Deschutes County Sheriff’s Office Deputy and three Deschutes County Sheriff’s Office Search and Rescue volunteers responded to assist. The DCSO SAR volunteers travelled the majority of the way to the stuck subjects with a 4×4 pickup, then deployed the tracked DCSO SAR ARGO ATV. At about 5:30 PM the volunteers had travelled about 5.5 miles in the ARGO ATV and arrived at the location where Thompson, his daughter, and their two dogs were waiting with their stuck vehicle. Both subjects and their two dogs were unharmed and were provided with a ride out to the SAR pickup, and then given a ride to their awaiting family on China Hat Road. DCSO resources returned to quarters by 7:00 PM.
The DCSO would like to remind the public to use caution when traveling on forest roads this time of year due to snowpack. Road conditions vary significantly and roads can quickly become impassable. Further, if you are traversing in these conditions be sure to bring appropriate vehicles, equipment, lighting, clothing, food, water, navigation and communication devices.
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, Marine Patrol, ATV Patrol, Forest Patrol, along with six K9 teams. Founded in 1916 and today led by your duly elected Sheriff L. Shane Nelson, the Deschutes County Sheriff’s Office serves over 200,000 residents in Deschutes County. The agency has 259 authorized and funded personnel, which includes 191 sworn employees who provide services to the 3,055 square miles of Deschutes County.
