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WASATCH COUNTY — Officials from the Wasatch County Sheriff's Office are crediting a Life Flight helicopter crew with saving an overdue hiker's life after they spotted him Sunday in the mountains east of Heber City.
Russell Carson, 76, was last seen by friends Friday. Search and rescue teams began efforts to locate him Sunday after friends found his vehicle in the Iron Mine area.
Carson was spotted late in the afternoon by a Life Flight helicopter crew aiding in the search, sheriff's officials said in written statement. When rescuers reached Carson, they found him injured and disoriented, and suffering from exposure, according to the statement.
"If it were not for Life Flight locating the victim, it is believed he would not have survived another night on the mountain, where temperatures drop into the 30's," the statement said.
Carson was taken by Life Flight to Intermountain Medical Center in Murray, where sheriff's officials said he would be treated for non-life threatening injuries.
Contributing: Celeste Rosenlof
