Utah father, son snowmobilers found after night in mountains

Stranded » Machines stopped working after pair decided to wait out storm east of Bountiful.

By kimball bennion

and Bob Mims

| The Salt Lake Tribune

First Published Feb 21 2013 12:14 pm • Last Updated Feb 22 2013 03:55 pm

A father and son who were stranded in the mountains east of Bountiful since Wednesday night were found unharmed Thursday afternoon.

Davis County Sheriff’s Sgt. Susan Poulsen said the 41-year-old man and 15-year-old boy were found by a group of snowmobilers near a ravine in the Tuttle Mine Loop area. Their snowmobiles had stopped working after the two decided to spend the night in the mountains while waiting out a snowstorm Wednesday night.

Family members reported Robert Sutton, 41, and Cole Sutton, 15, missing at about 10 a.m. Thursday.

The night before, the pair encountered a snowstorm that made it hard for them to see, so they contacted family by phone and said they would spend the night and try to get out by morning. The next morning, they texted family members saying that their machines wouldn’t start.

They were located about 4 p.m.

Poulsen said the group of people who found them was aware that the two were missing after speaking with sheriff’s officers at a staging area in the parking lot near the Bountiful "B" that overlooks the city.

Poulsen said seven search-and-rescue team members and a helicopter from the Department of Public Safety participated in the search.

The boy’s grandmother, Barbara Selleneit, of Kaysville — the mother of Robert Sutton’s ex-wife, who lives in San Diego — said she got a call from her daughter on Thursday morning wondering why Cole wouldn’t answer his phone.

After speaking with Robert’s family, Selleneit’s daughter found out that the two had spent the night on the mountain. That’s when Selleneit decided to call search-and-rescue.

kbennion@sltrib.com

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