Missing man rescued

Published 7:00 pm Wednesday, December 6, 2006

Daryl Jane was found after two weeks in remote snowdrift.

Daryl Jane’s Jeep won’t see the light of day until spring.

Fortunately, after two weeks spent shivering in the vehicle beneath seven feet of snow, the island resident’s freedom came much sooner.

Hungry, thirsty and with the dimmest hope for rescue from the abysmal conditions, the now-recuperating Jane was discovered – freezing but alive – on Saturday, about 24 miles from his destination.

“It was a beautiful, sunny day when he left,” said Jana Wilkins, of her nephew’s Nov. 18 departure to a gathering at a remote ranch. “Then the blizzard broke loose.”

For two weeks, the snow didn’t stop, and it almost claimed the 37-year-old Jane, who lives and drives a taxi on Bainbridge Island.

After Jane failed to return to work the following Monday, Wilkins filed a missing person report with Bainbridge Police.

Some 33 miles before the blizzard, on his way to a ranch at Trout Lake, near Mt. Adams, Jane had steered his Jeep onto Forest Service Road 23. He had stopped for cash and snacks earlier in the day – his bank records ultimately helped rescuers narrow down his location – before continuing on his way. He also stopped and bought a drum at another store, and the clerk at the store clearly rememberd speaking to him.

Still, there was no sign of his the Jeep, which at dusk got stuck on the empty road. Rather than hoof it through the arriving blackness, Wilkins nestled into his sleeping bag for the night.

Meanwhile, as he slept, falling snow swallowed his car. When he awoke, Jane knew he was in trouble.

“It freaked him out,” Wilkins said. “He said he couldn’t believe how much it was snowing.”

Jane managed to free himself and began to pace in circles around the vehicle in an effort to keep it from being entirely obscured. Using a scraper given to him by Wilkins last Christmas, Jane spent the whitewashed hours chiseling away ice. Pants, socks, shoes. All were frozen.

At one point Jane tried to hike out, but finding the drifts too deep, decided to wait to be rescued. He rationed his scarce food, mostly banana chips, and struggled through the frigid nights in his sleeping bag and Seahawks coat.

On the eighth day, he penned a farewell not to friends and family.

“He was dying of thirst,” Wilkins said. “He didn’t know if he was going to make it.”

Weak as he became, Jane managed to crawl from his car and down a snow bank, where he found his lifeline, a small trickle of fresh water. He spent much of his energy in the following days shuttling back and forth between his car and the water-source, filling his coffee cup and water bottle.

As the days passed, search efforts were hampered by worsening weather. Under the weight of heavy accumulations, trees had buckled across the roadway.

Snow plows stalled somewhere near mile 19. The weather remained grim.

Wilkins and other family members enlisted any help they could. One man offered to search with his private helicopter. When the snow let up, the family planned to snowshoe the length of the road.

Then, on Saturday, four volunteer searchers rumbled into the wilderness on snowmobiles.

Three of the riders became mired along the way, unable to clear the fallen trees. The fourth, Jim Beslow, pushed on until he spotted the turquoise roof of Jane’s Jeep.

Jane, who had just endured his coldest night by doing yoga exercises in his sleeping bag, believes he wouldn’t have lasted another day.

“Daryl worked hard and did everything right,” Wilkins said. “But he wasn’t equipped to be in the mountains for that long. He was just driving in his car to the ranch.”

After some soup, several shreds of beef jerky and about two hours of thawing, Jane was released from the hospital. He was fatigued and mildly hypothermic, but otherwise emerged unscathed.

Wilkins said the ordeal has left Jane and his family forever changed, and forever grateful, to those those who helped out with the search.

“The emotions afterward were pretty intense,” Wilkins said. “Daryl is still pretty tired out. We’re all pretty tired out.