MULLAN, Idaho (AP) — Two men were rescued after being caught in an avalanche in the Idaho backcountry, while a third man was believed to be dead.
The Shoshone County Sheriff’s Office says a rescue began shortly before 3 p.m. Thursday when law enforcement received a GPS alert of a possible fatality in an avalanche near Stevens Peak in Shoshone County, close to the Montana border. They learned three men had been caught in the slide.
The sheriff’s office says authorities established communications with two of the men through a GPS texting device and located them.
A discussion with the men led authorities to believe a third man had perished. Authorities called off the search Thursday and planned to resume looking for the deceased man on Friday.
The Idaho search came a day after an avalanche hit a ski resort near Lake Tahoe in California, trapping several people and killing one.
The sheriff’s office was assisted by the U.S. Air Force, Kootenai County Sheriff’s Office, Silver Valley Search and Rescue and the Silver Mountain Ski Patrol.