On Nov. 23 around 8:40 p.m. Sevier County deputies and Search and Rescue were dispatched to three stranded hikers in Red Canyon west of Sigurd. They had left on a hike around noon and a few hours into their hike they were unable to find their way back down the ledges they had climbed up.

After searching for a few hours they contacted a family member who hiked up the canyon but was unable to locate a way up to them. At this point the family member requested search and rescue assistance. Search and rescue searched for a way to safely navigate to the young men, but none was found in the dark.

At 3:30 a.m. a drone was flown to the boys with fire starting materials. They young men had no food, water, or warm clothing at the time. Attempts were made to get helicopters from the Utah Department of Public Safety Aero Bureau, but they were unavailable. Medical hoist helicopters were also unavailable due to not having a night hoist crew available. The Utah Emergency operations Center was also contacted to see if there were any other resources available.

An Army National Guard Unit was located but the time for them to be able to respond made the choice to wait till daylight when a life flight hoist crew was available. The life flight crew was able to hoist each of the young men to safety where they were checked out by Sevier County EMT’s. They were in good condition and had no significant health concerns due to their overnight stay in freezing temperatures. Hikers were 21 year old Sam Kemp, 19 year Max Kemp, and 20 Garrett Leavitt.

Sevier County Sheriff Nathan Curtis thanked all the Search and rescue volunteers, EMT’s, deputies, and life flight crews for being willing to spend all night out searching and finding a way to safely bring the hikers home.