Family missing in N. California mountains found alive

Published 1:43 pm Wednesday, December 19, 2007

PARADISE, Calif. — A father and his three children who trekked into a remote Northern California mountain range were found alive Wednesday, three days after they went looking for a Christmas tree and vanished.

“They have found all four, and they appear to be OK,” said Paradise Police Sgt. Steve Rowe.

He said rescuers airlifted the family out of the mountains and were planning to evaluate their condition. The children walked out of the snow into a crowd of media and excited rescuers gathered at the staging area for the search.

More than a foot of snow had fallen in the area since the family disappeared Sunday — wearing just T-shirts, jeans, light jackets and sneakers — and drifts measured up to 7 feet. The four were found as a powerful storm carrying even more snow was bearing down on the region.