MEDFORD, Ore. — Keith and Jennifer Lee were driving home on a remote mountain road, their prized Christmas tree strapped to the roof of their all-wheel-drive, when they rounded a backcountry corner and found themselves suddenly mired in snow.
Out of cellphone range and unaware a search was underway, the couple spent three days and two cold nights before Keith Lee finally freed the Subaru and drove home, the tree still tied on top.
They soon heard news reports on the radio about a search that had begun Wed nesday. They called 911, then phoned a close friend who was taking care of their four children.
“I screamed, ‘They’re safe, they’re coming home,’ ” said the friend, Sophie Smith. “Everybody just fell and cried.”
Above the fog that regularly socks in the Rogue Valley in winter, the Lees were warm during the day.
The couple huddled under their blankets at night, running the car engine 15 minutes every hour for heat.
They had no food but plenty of water.
Jennifer Lee said she spent much of Tuesday and Wednesday praying while her husband worked to free the car. She thought of her kids, ages 8 to 18, and what kind of Christmas it would be for them without their parents.
The couple knew exactly where they were but had no way to communicate, Jennifer Lee said.
Early Thursday morning, a newly determined Keith Lee changed strategies, putting rocks underneath the tires and filling in the ruts from behind.
“Suddenly the car just shot forward,” he said. “Then we backed down the hill.”
Keith Lee said he was undaunted and would go back to the mountains for his tree again next year. But his wife said she would stay home.
“What were we thinking?” she said. “Thirty dollars for a Christmas tree. Just pay the $30 and be done with it. Thirty dollars wasn’t worth our life.”
The Associated Press
