8 Rescued After Night in Snow Near Idyllwild

Eight Hemet residents, including two children, were rescued Monday after they spent a frigid night in a snowdrift when they became stranded in their cars near the mountain town of Idyllwild, officials said.

The motorists were found early Monday morning by the Riverside Mountain Rescue Unit, a volunteer search and rescue team, after an 11-hour search, said Riverside County Sheriff’s Sgt. David Pike.

Two relatives of the motorists who joined the search were also briefly stranded after their car became stuck. They made their way to safety shortly before 8 a.m.

Patrick McCurdy, 44, of Riverside was one of the first rescuers to find the motorists.

“We found them during one of the first rays of light, and they were mostly concerned with the kids,” McCurdy said.

“They did everything they should have. They stayed put, and they didn’t wander off. It could have gotten nasty if they had wandered off.”

The motorists had traveled to the mountains Sunday in two four-wheel-drive vehicles for a day in the snow and got lost on the way down.

One person in the group made an emergency cellphone call but was unable to direct rescuers to their location.

The rescue unit and a San Diego County Sheriff’s Department helicopter crew began searching the San Jacinto Mountains. The group was found about 4:45 a.m.

Authorities have yet to release the identities of those stranded. No injuries were reported.

The rescue was the second involving missing people in the region over the weekend.

Two San Bernardino County sheriff’s helicopter crews found three missing snowboarders in Big Bear at daybreak Sunday morning. The trio had spent the night on Bear Mountain but reported no injuries.