Searchers can't find purported crash

The Daily Inter Lake

A search for a person possibly hurt in a vehicle accident Monday night has left Undersheriff Mike Meehan frustrated.

Almost 24 hours later, Meehan wasn't sure if a 911 call was a hoax or if someone is injured and needs help.

The cell-phone call came in at 9:15 p.m. Monday from someone who didn't speak. 911 dispatcher Marsha Hawkins could hear static on the other end of the line.

For 15 minutes, Hawkins questioned the caller, asking him or her to tap or key 911 on the phone if the answers to her questions were positive.

Using that painstaking method, Hawkins began guessing what the caller's problem was.

Was there a vehicle accident? Yes.

Was the caller hurt? Yes.

Hawkins got enough affirmative answers to determine that the caller was trapped in a truck that rolled in a ditch, had a head injury and was bleeding from the stomach.

She guessed locations, eliminating all parts of the county map except for the Whitefish area. At first, the caller indicated a location between Olney and Eureka. Then the answers pointed to 20 miles up Beaver Lake Road. But it's only an 8-mile road.

Whitefish Fire Department and Ambulance were called. Three sheriff's deputies worked hours past their shift, along with Meehan and Lt. Dave Leib. They patrolled roads in the area, searching with flashlights for crushed grass or broken plants that would be clues to a vehicle that went off the road.

Search-and-rescue volunteers came out to look. The ALERT helicopter flew overhead with its powerful spotlight for half an hour. No one found anything.

Alltel wireless company traced the phone call to an invalid number. Meehan said former cell-phone company subscribers can still call 911 even after their account is canceled. Older phones, and those from canceled services, don't include GPS coordinates for calls, Meehan said.

Alltel narrowed the call location to within a 5-mile radius of the Lion Mountain cell tower near Whitefish. Unfortunately, Meehan said, that encompasses all of Whitefish, as far south as Happy Valley, and the mountainous area to the west.

Meehan said the fruitless search continued until 2 a.m. Tuesday, including Beaver Lake Road, Lupfer Meadows, Werner Peak Road, around Whitefish Lake and down to the Farm to Market area. Later in the day, Leib went up in a helicopter but still couldn't find anything.

On Tuesday afternoon, Meehan praised Hawkins for doing "an excellent job. She kept the person on the line for a long time."

The length of the call, along with the fact that there was no snickering from the caller, led Meehan to doubt that the call was a hoax.

Despite the extensive use of manpower and resources, he almost hopes it was a hoax. The alternative is that someone, somewhere is waiting for help.

If the call turns out to be a prank, Meehan said, the caller will be charged with making a false report and could be ordered to pay for the cost of the search.

"I'd like to get my hands around the neck" of anyone who would make such a call, he said.

He clearly was still worried Tuesday afternoon.

Anyone with information should call the sheriff's office at 758-5610.

Reporter Chery Sabol may be reached at 758-4441 or by e-mail at csabol@dailyinterlake.com