Couple and their dogs trapped in snow survive two-week ordeal

GRAPEVINE, Calif. (FOX 11) - Two campers and their dogs were rescued Wednesday morning after being trapped for two weeks in the mountains. 

“I was hoisted down and made contact with them,” Charles Miranda, a paramedic with the Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department said. “They were scared but glad someone was there to get them out.”

The couple and their two dogs were all camping on the North side of Alamo Mountain near Frazier Mountain Park when last week’s storm came through. 

A tree near their camp fell over blocking access to the road, and the snow was so deep their truck was stuck.  

“I think they were thinking the snow was going to melt a little quicker than it did and that’s why they were waiting it out,” Miranda said. 

But after surviving for two weeks the campers were out of food and fuel. 

“They had fuel for the stove to melt the water, but then they ran out of fuel,” Miranda said. “They were thirsty because they weren’t able to get water out of the snow.”

On Wednesday morning a team of five deputies with the Special Enforcement Bureau assembled inside rescue helicopter and set off to find the couple who had called for help. 

“They hiked a couple miles and realized they had cell reception and contacted 9-11 through an app we have,” Miranda said. “We were able to locate their latitude and longitude.”

The area where deputies found the campers was too rugged for the helicopter to land so pilot Jim Wolfhope held it steady as deputies hoisted down.    

“We work and train as a team together and it makes rescues like this rather routine,” Wolfhope said. 

The couple was dehydrated, sunburned, hungry and tired when they were rescued, but amazingly they weren’t injured. 

A picture taken inside the helicopter after the rescue shows the campers in their 30s and their two tired pups who looked ready to head home.