Gary Smith, the chief engineer for Idaho Falls, Idaho station KIFI-KIDK-KXPI has been found after being stranded on a nearby mountain.
The Idaho State Journal reports the man called 911 around 7:30 p.m. yesterday but “the line went dead before an emergency dispatcher could talk to him.”
A little over an hour later, a Bannock County Search and Rescue team found him, cold and tired but OK.
He had driven to Kinport Peak to do maintenance on an NPG tower located on the mountaintop, authorities said. The Bannock County Sheriff’s Office said that because of the deep mountain snow, the technician at some point decided to park his truck and use a snowmobile to get to the tower.
The man’s snowmobile somehow became stuck on the mountain and that’s when he called 911. It’s unclear why he didn’t try to make another 911 call after his first one failed.
Responding Bannock County sheriff’s deputies initially located the technician’s truck and the attached snowmobile trailer on the mountain.
But there were no signs of the technician.
Bannock County Search and Rescue personnel were then called in with their snowmobiles.