SWEETWATER COUNTY — County deputies and dispatchers at the county’s Joint Combined Communications Center worked together on March 6 to rescue a stranded mother and son in a remote area of Sweetwater County.

Sweetwater County Sheriff Rich Haskell said the pair were on back roads in the Steamboat Mountain area north of Rock Springs when they became badly stuck.  While there was no cell service in the area, they were able to get a distress message out through a special instant messaging service and reach a friend in Cheyenne, who contacted the Communications Center.

Road conditions were extremely bad and one deputy, who tried to reach the location from the north, was unable to do so.  Corporal Jason Mower, who came in from the south along the Chilton Road, managed to get within 100 yards of the stuck vehicle and transported the pair out to safety.

“We would like people to be very cautious in considering any outings into the back country at this time of year,” cautioned Sheriff Rich Haskell. “Mud and snow conditions are extremely unfavorable and there’s a great deal of risk involved.”

Haskell recalled the situation in 2011 when an entire party of county deputies, County Search & Rescue volunteers, and County Coroner’s officials were obliged to spend the night at a plane crash site near Oregon Buttes in northern Sweetwater County when every one of their vehicles became stuck and had to be extricated with track dozers and motor graders. “Bear in mind that was in May,” said Haskell, “and this is only March. If you’re on a back road in a remote area and encounter heavy snow or mud, you’re wise to call off your outing and turn around.”