Baker City brothers OK after night in the snow

Lloyd “Bud” Pohl, 89, of 2845 Hughes Lane, No. 2, and Leonard “Bus” Pohl, 91, of 1830 Church St., were reported missing about 1 p.m. Wednesday by Leonard’s daughter, Sherry Swafford, Police Chief Wyn Lohner said.

Searchers also talked with Lloyd’s wife, Donna.

Lloyd Pohl walked out to Highway 7 near Union Creek Campground about 11 a.m. Thursday and was picked up by a passerby who saw him standing by the road waving his hat, Lohner said.

The brothers had driven Old Auburn Road west to Union Creek Road, and they were about a mile north Highway 7 Wednesday when Lloyd’s 1992 Ford Explorer became high-centered after it slid off a groomed snowmobile trail, Sheriff Mitch Southwick said Thursday afternoon, after the men had returned home safe.

The Union Creek Road is not plowed during winter, and the Old Auburn Road is kept open for vehicles to a point about a mile west of the state’s elk-feeding station.

The brothers spent the night in the vehicle, running the engine occasionally for warmth.

The city dispatched two snowmobiles to the area to help bring Leonard Pohl out to the highway. He stayed with the Ford Explorer while his brother walked out for help, Sheriff Mitch Southwick said.

City employees Jake Jones and Blain LeaMaster traveled from Highway 7 up Union Creek Road where they found the Explorer. Leonard had left the vehicle and started walking back toward Auburn Road, Southwick said. The city workers found Leonard sitting under a tree about 200 yards from the vehicle.

A Baker City ambulance crew was dispatched and Sumpter EMTs also were called, but their services were not needed. The brothers declined treatment and returned home. The city workers pulled the Explorer out of the snow and drove it back to Baker City.

The Pohl brothers had put chains on the vehicle and tried to dig themselves out with a shovel they carried, the sheriff said. They also had a sleeping bag, tarp and preserved packaged food.

The brothers were the subjects of an overnight search by city, county and state police agencies and search and rescue volunteers. Southwick joined OSP pilot Ken West to fly over the area Wednesday as part of the search.

Police followed several leads before the men were found Thursday morning. The Pohl brothers’ day got off to an early start Wednesday, Lohner said. They were waiting for the doors to open at the Country Cottage on 10th Street where they had breakfast at 6 a.m. They next were seen at Black’s Distributing where they filled their gas tank between 6:30 a.m. and 7 a.m. before heading west on Broadway.

The brothers are known for “taking drives and enjoying what Baker County has to offer,” Lohner said. They are joined in their travels by a small dog.

The men were last seen heading back toward Baker City from Hunt Mountain Road about 8:15 a.m. Wednesday, Southwick said. Most days they return home by 9 a.m.

Police asked the county’s rural fire departments to be on the lookout for the two men, and officer Mike Harris, who drives an SUV designed to carry the city’s drug-detection dog, Turbo, joined the sheriff’s department in a Wednesday search. OSP troopers also were watching for the white Ford Explorer on their patrols. And fliers were distributed to service stations and sporting goods stores in the area.

“This was another example of how public safety works together in Baker County,” Lohner said.

In addition to the work of law enforcement, the fire department and public works, Lohner praised the efforts of the dispatchers who coordinated the search.

“They just did a tremendous job also,” he said.

While Southwick expressed admiration for the brothers’ independence, he urged them and other sightseers to let friends or family members know where they’re going. The use of a cell phone — the Pohl brothers didn’t have one — also would have helped the search effort.

“Make sure people know where you’re going, don’t go where you shouldn’t be and be prepared,” he said.