Prairie Nights

Tyler Vandermars of Glasgow spent an unexpected night on the southern side of Fort Peck Lake after an elk hunting trip led to his stranding during high winds and winter weather on Oct. 8. According to Vandermars, he had set out Monday to try and find an elk and stayed through to Tuesday. On Tuesday morning he found the elk, and set out on pursuit, but abandoned the effort to return home when the winds came up around 1 p.m.

Vandermars said he had attempted to cross the lake then, but when he reached the mouth of the Crooked Creek Bay, he was met by waves too high to chance in his boat. So he returned to a sheltered part of the bay and beached the boat. He then hiked up the ridge until he had cell service and phoned Keith Fogle of Glasgow. Vandermars then filled Fogle in on the situation he faced telling him he was “stuck at the mercy of the wind.”

Soon snow and wind would be falling as well and according to Valley County Sheriff Tom Boyer, Fogle had started calling search and rescue members directly that Tuesday afternoon. It would not be until about 5:30 p.m. when Rob Brunelle would inform Boyer that they were planning to launch a search mission via boat from the Marina. Boyer said reports at the time indicated that Vandermars had travelled by boat from the Pines Recreation Area towards the southeast across the lake. Those reports, however, were wrong and Vandermars was actually nestled near the tip of East Crooked Creek Bay to the southwest of the Pines.

Boyer said he was hesitant to launch a boat search when the location of the missing man was unknown. Instead he took to the air, with the help of Russell Leader and a loaned aircraft from former Sheriff Glen Meier, to search the shore line. Boyer said the aircraft searched from Sage Creek (where reports had possibly placed him) east to Embleton Coulee, then west to Gilbert Bay then to Crooked Creek (where they missed Vandermars), then back east to Haxby Point. From Haxby Point, they flew at a low altitude and speed to Hell Creek to try and catch a sighting. However due to the weather and fading light, there was no spotted trace of Vandermars or his beached boat.

Boyer than put the search by boat on hold citing the severe wind and weather as well as a lack of a known location for Vandermars. Since the initial phone call from the missing man in the early afternoon, no other phone calls or sightings had occurred. Due to the lack of contact, some had feared he may have attempted to cross the lake unsuccessfully. Boyer said he had concerns that attempts to search for the man overnight during a winter storm may have resulted in further risk to searchers and civilians.

He said they returned to the airport after dark and notified Garfield County Sheriff Clay Lammers of the situation. According to Boyer, Lammers than set out to try and get searchers into the area on all-terrain vehicles, but held off the search until the next day. He was also able to discover that the boat had been spotted by a pair of Garfield County ranchers in Crooked Creek earlier that day, but that it had been moved later on. Lammers was also aware that an abandoned farm house and barn were in the area and they speculated he may seek shelter there.

The determination was made that if Vandermars was safe on land he would have the ability to survive the night with his gear and outdoors skills. The search was put on hold until the following day. Early morning fog, wind and snow, however, was not put on hold and the conditions the next day were, in fact just as bad for the rescue effort. No further communication from Vandermars and no call to 911 meant that it was impossible to discover his location.

Vandermars said he spent the night in the boat and that he was cold and did not get much sleep, but he also did not build a fire. He stated that he was certain he was not going to make it another night on the boat, though, and he had decided that if necessary he would make his way to the abandoned farmhouse for the next night. Firstly though, he would attempt to make contact again, so he began to hike up to higher ground.

At the same time, Vandermars’ wife and the Sheriff had gone to Verizon Wireless in Glasgow to try and determine his cell phone location. Also happening at that same time, a few Garfield County ranchers were heading to Crooked Creek to look for the lost hunter and spotted him around 11:30 a.m. After they signaled Vandermars, he navigated his boat to their side of the bay, hitched a ride back to Jordan and was picked up by a couple of friends to be brought back to Glasgow.

Vandermars said that after the weather cleared, Bruce Riggen, Rocky Zindar, Scott Redstone and himself went back out to retrieve his boat and bring it back to Glasgow. He said he was also told that three of his friends, Casey Riggen, Luke Morehouse and Keith Fogle had crossed the lake during the winter storm on Wednesday morning to search for him on their own accord. They did not find him, but Vandermars added that he felt the endeavor was quite brave.

Sheriff Boyer said he was thankful for the outcome of the search and for the help received from those who supported the search and rescue effort. “I’m thankful for the support from the people who showed up. I’m extremely thankful for the efforts from search and rescue, and I’m extremely grateful to Russell Leader for getting us in the air so quickly,” said Boyer. “I’m thankful for the cooperation with Garfield County Sheriff and from the landowners who went out to find him [Vandermars]. I don’t think it would have been so successful without the support from all of them.”

Boyer did caution that impeding the search effort was the amount of bad information being distributed on social media. Reports were conflicting on locations, times and conditions where Vandermars could have been and some reports even indicated his boat may have capsized in the high winds. All of those reports proved false, but had almost caused some to risk the storm conditions to search by boat for the missing hunter.

“Due to bad information,” explained Boyer, “People jumped to conclusions that could have added to the bad circumstances.” He explained that his decision to hold off on the search would have changed had information been different. “It would have been different if the guy was injured or in immediate harm, but he was not,”said Boyer. He added that according to reports from friends he was an avid outdoorsman and capable of surviving the overnight stay.

Boyer did say that in the event of an emergency the first number someone calls should be 911, especially if remote. That way the dispatch can pull the location data from the phone to guide search efforts more effectively. In the case of Vandermars, Boyer pointed out that the lake shore is huge and amounts to, “a lot of area to try and narrow down.” It also streamlines the search process to expedite getting people into the field.

He also wanted to remind people that when heading out to go hunting or recreating in remote regions, like Fort Peck Lake and the Charles M. Russell Wildlife Refuge, that you remember to inform someone remaining behind of your exact travel destinations and the time to expect your return home. It is also advisable that you bring along certain survival materials like shelter, food, water, fire-starting material and a signaling device.