A Texas family was found alive on Christmas Eve after being stranded in a snowy expanse of the Rocky Mountains for about a day, police said.
The married couple in their 30s and their 12-year-old daughter were driving the 600 miles from El Paso to Norwood, Colorado, when their truck got stuck in the San Juan National Forest early Monday morning, the San Miguel Sheriff’s Department said.
A worried relative called cops at about 7 p.m. Monday, and a search party scoured the area into the night, but did not find the stranded family, cops said.
San Miguel County Undersheriff Eric Berg spotted the family’s rented truck around 9 a.m. on Tuesday using his personal aircraft.
A few minutes later, authorities found the trio walking a couple of miles from the vehicle.
The dad said the family had depended on an electronic GPS to get them to Norwood to make a furniture delivery — but the system lead them through deep snow, where their truck got stuck, cops said.
The family ran the vehicle’s engine and covered themselves in furniture blankets to keep warm as they were stuck in the snowy mountain region. The next morning, they wrapped their tennis shoes in shipping plastic, before taking off walking, cops said.
“The family is lucky to have had moderate temperatures and our ability to use aircraft to locate them,” Sheriff Bill Masters said.
“But people need to remember that electronic GPS systems are not always the best guide. At this time of year especially, roads like these are not always passable.”
Official’s stressed that it is also important to keep warm weather gear, extra food and water in vehicles.
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