Lost snowmobilers rescued

Two missing snowmobilers who spent a night on Mica Peak in southern Spokane County were found alive Friday morning by search-and-rescue teams.

Ken Naccarato, 39, of Spokane Valley, and 15-year-old neighbor Tony Carroll, a student at Central Valley High School, were reported to be in good condition after being rescued. Carroll was taken to a hospital as a precaution.

“I knew he’d be all right,” Marcy Naccarato said of her husband.

Ken Naccarato “saved my son’s life,” said Carroll’s father, Mike. “This is the happiest day of my life.”

A U.S. Border Patrol helicopter spotted the two about 9 a.m. Friday. An extraction sled was lowered to Naccarato and Carroll so rescuers could pull them from a deep gully. Because of heavy brush, helicopters couldn’t land in the area where the two were found.

The snowmobile excursion started about 4 p.m. Thursday when the pair went out for a quick ride to test out a new snowmobile, according to the Spokane County Sheriff’s Office.

Naccarato headed down a path that used to lead back to the main road, but he was unaware that the road had been trenched to keep people out of the area since he was there two years ago, he said. He and the snowmobile fell into one of the holes.

Naccarato and Carroll were disoriented and lost, so rather than risk running out of gas in their one remaining snowmobile looking for a way out, they called friends and family members with a cell phone, asking for help.

“My dad said he was lost, and I thought he was joking,” said Naccarato’s 22-year-old daughter, Casey. Her father is an experienced snowmobile rider. “My dad will never say, ‘Call a rescue team.’ But right before the cell phone went out he said, ‘Call a rescue team.’ “

Marcy Naccarato contacted the Sheriff’s Office about 9:50 p.m. Thursday.

The Spokane City/County Department of Emergency Management coordinated the ground and air search, which included helicopters and the Spokane Winter Knights, a group of snowmobile enthusiasts who assist the Sheriff’s Office in winter rescues.

Twice, rescuers mistakenly thought they had found Naccarato and Carroll.

To stay warm in the temperatures that neared zero, the pair used the remaining fuel in the undamaged snowmobile to start the snowmobile and huddled next to the engine compartment.

And “we did a lot of cuddling,” Naccarato said with a grin. “Tony actually slept, and he snores.”

The two also had candy bars and water to sustain them through the night.

Frank Young, a volunteer with Spokane Winter Knights, was the first to reach Naccarato and Carroll after about 12 hours of search efforts.

Young said Naccarato’s first comments were: “Thanks for coming up here, and we’re going to join the search-and-rescue team.”

“It all worked out,” Young said.

“I don’t ever want to go through something like this again,” Mike Carroll said.

Ken Naccarato planned to go snowmobiling Friday and tonight, but his wife told him she wasn’t letting him out of her sight for a while.

“I’ll be baking cookies,” Ken Naccarato said. Sunday night, he and his wife have a date.