When One Rescue Mission Turns Into Another

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Story Published: Dec 3, 2007 at 6:52 PM PST

By Valerie Hurst

The search for two missing men been put off till Tuesday morning because of melting snow.

Waiting patiently for any news from search and rescue, friends and family of randy covey and Matt Richards came to the Nile community church.
The wait is especially hard for Eric Poeggel, who says he feels helpless.

"Because we can't do anything right now," he says.

Eric was one of two hunters who got lost on Clemans Mountain Saturday night.
The pair had been hunting and got stuck in white out conditions.
Luckily, their cell phones worked and they were rescued safely.

"The guy who actually found us was on snowshoes because he couldn't snowmobile in," Poeggel says.

But in the meantime, two others also went searching for the hunters, including the dad of one of the men.
Now, the rescue-ees are rescuers.

Valerie Hurst, reporting: "It's not nearly as cold now as it was when the storm first hit and trapped the two men up on the mountain. It's raining and it's melting the snow, turning it to slush. Good news for those trying to brave the elements, bad news for snowmobilers... These things run much better on dry, powdery snow."

"They kept sinking and if you fell off the snowmobile it would go into a hole, the snow was up to your waist and we'd have to dig'em out and pull'em," Jeffrey Russell tells Action News.

It may be a tougher search the second time around, but family and friends are staying positive.
Now that crews have found truck tracks, they're hoping the pair will be smart and stay put.

"Friends and family search and rescue they've been awesome, I mean I cannot believe how many have gone up and are still up there now and we're certain that they will be home, anytime..." Matt Richard's wife Carrie says.

This search is more difficult than the first because crews don't even know which side of the ridge the men are on...
A 5 mile radius is a lot of land to search.

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