A Utah man missing since Monday has been found safe and unharmed in Southeast Idaho.
That's despite the fact Paul Meiling spent two nights weathering a snowstorm in the mountains of northern Oneida County. Meiling then hiked five miles Wednesday morning to a location in southern Bannock County where he finally had cell phone reception so he could call his son for help.
It was quite the adventure for the 77-year-old from West Jordan who suffers from heart problems.
Meiling, a retired commercial real estate appraiser, was reported missing by his family after he failed to return home Monday from a trip to Idaho State University's library in Pocatello to donate some books.
Meiling didn't tell his family that he decided to check out some of his favorite fishing spots on the way back to Utah Monday afternoon — and that's when things went awry.
One of those spots is Daniels Reservoir in mountainous northern Oneida County, but Meiling's journey to the remote location took a turn for the worse when his Toyota Tundra pickup got stuck in the mountain snow. Meiling found himself stranded in the mountains between Daniels and Hawkins reservoirs — an area that has no cell phone reception.
With a winter storm approaching there was no one around to help him out and no one knew his whereabouts because he had never told his family about his plans to head into the back country.
Meiling found an abandoned shed and set it on fire to keep warm as the temperature plummeted well below freezing and the falling snow piled up.
On Wednesday morning Meiling made the decision to try to hike out of his predicament. He walked five miles in snow-covered rough terrain, crossing into southern Bannock County, until he finally got to a spot where his cell phone would work.
Around 8:30 a.m. he called his son Jeff, who lives in South Jordan, Utah, to deliver perhaps the best Christmas gift in Meiling family history — Dad is OK.
Jeff contacted authorities and search and rescue units soon responded to Meiling's location on Dairy Creek Road. Meiling immediately told the emergency responders about burning down the shed and he offered to pay for it if the owner can be found.
When asked about his condition, Meiling said he was fine and declined to go to the hospital. After two nights in the back country, he just wanted to go home.
Meiling's friends and family said they were surprised that he didn't suffer any frost bite or hypothermia during the snowstorm.
Prior to being located Wednesday morning, Meiling was last seen filling up his pickup at the Pocatello Costco's gas pumps around noon Monday. He had traveled to Pocatello to donate books to the ISU library and his family confirmed that he did so Monday morning prior to going to Costco for gas.
Meiling has a heart condition and his family was concerned that he might have suffered a medical emergency and lost control of his vehicle and crashed on the way home to Utah.
Friends and family members as well as multiple law enforcement agencies in Idaho and Utah spent Tuesday searching for Meiling.
Bannock County Sheriff Lorin Nielsen said aircraft were also deployed to look for Meiling's Toyota Tundra from above, but the fact the vehicle is white in color made the aerial search difficult.
Nielsen said he'll take a positive outcome to a situation like this "any day" but people need to pay attention to and respect the weather forecast before heading into the mountains.
"The weather service had been warning about the incoming storm for days," the sheriff said. "You better know what you're getting yourself into and be prepared. I'm glad he was able to survive but he would have saved himself and his family a lot of grief if he would have paid attention to weather conditions."
As of 11 a.m. Wednesday Meiling was being driven by a friend back home to West Jordan.
Meiling said about his ordeal, "What a wonderful Christmas miracle."
