Men rescued after being lost for five days
Published: September 5, 2003
Two men lost for five days in the wilderness where their all-terrain vehicle broke down, 90 miles north of Nome, were found in good condition, Alaska State Troopers said.
Frank Martin, 49, and Richard Redmond, 49, got lost Aug. 24, and split up two days later when they could not agree which direction to take back to their camp, troopers said Thursday.
A Bering Air pilot spotted one of the men late in the evening on Aug. 28. Troopers said the man was standing next to a fire and blinking a flashlight toward the plane. On the bank of a nearby creek the words ”I’m lost” were stamped in the sand.
It was too dark to mount a rescue that night, troopers said. The next morning dense fog prevented searchers were finding the man again, but later that afternoon a U.S. Fish and Wildlife agent was able to fly in and pick up Martin.
Troopers then learned of the second missing man and chartered a helicopter to return to the area and pick up Redmond.
The men were tired and cold but unhurt, troopers said.
They had lived on blueberries and a can of beans they found in an abandoned cabin. At one point, Redmond burned down an abandoned cabin trying to signal an airplane.
The men were nearly 20 miles from where they thought they were and both were heading in the wrong direction, troopers said. Neither was carrying a compass.
They had not told anyone specifically where they were going or when they should be expected back, so no one had reported them missing, troopers said.
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