WRIGHTWOOD – Palmdale deputies and the Antelope Valley Search and Rescue Team helped rescue a woman who was lost in the snow near Wrightwood.
The 51-year-old Phelan woman was “conscious and coherent” after her rescue Sunday, sheriff’s officials said. She was rescued by a Sno-Cat after nine hours spent lost in blinding fog and deep snow, not far from the Mountain High-North ski area, according to a news release from the Sheriff’s Information Bureau.
The circumstances of how the woman became lost are still unclear, but it appears she may have gone to the resort to look for someone.
She had “texted her son about 2:42 a.m. [Sunday] that she was lost and walking around with no shoes or socks on,” Lt. Ken Wright of the sheriff’s Palmdale station told City News Service.
The son drove to the resort and found his mother’s vehicle in the ski area’s parking lot, at 24512 Angeles Crest Highway, but he could not locate her.
Palmdale Sheriff’s Station dispatched three units to the location. Upon their arrival at the resort, they met with the son and located the car. They also discovered tracks in the snow leading away from her vehicle.
The Antelope Valley Search and Rescue Team was activated, and several team members who were familiar with the resort and the surrounding area arrived on scene at approximately 5 a.m. Ground searchers found the victim’s car keys, a sock, and tracks in the snow, but these did not lead to the victim.
Helicopters could not be brought in due to clouds, but the cellphone was still communicating with the network, deputies said
Palmdale station deputies and the Antelope Valley Search and Rescue Team got special permission from the Air Force to use a cellphone detection tracker, which led them to the phone and the lost woman, in the snow near the amphitheater at the Table Mountain Campground.
Search personnel requested a Sno-Cat from the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department to assist with extracting the victim from the area.
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Great Work says
I listened to much of this rescue on the scanner. Very methodical, they pulled out all the stops to find this woman. Great work by all team members.