2 lost sisters stayed put, were found by rescuers

After becoming separated from their father during a hike, two Vancouver, Wash., girls apparently tried to follow a creek, slipping into brushy terrain off the trail. When dusk approached, they huddled at the bottom of a ravine, taking fitful rests.

Wearing only shorts and sweat shirts, they had water and food in their backpacks to sustain them as they waited.

It would be 19 hours before two Volcano Rescue Team members found them: Tired, but with no physical injuries — a relief for the 50-some searchers scouring rugged terrain in northeastern Clark County.

"It's very satisfying to go out all night and find somebody," said Mike McClain, one of the rescuers who found the sisters.

The discovery resulted from search efforts that began Sunday evening, continued through the night and then into midmorning. The girls, ages 10 and 7, were rescued Monday morning close to the same spot their father, Gintaras Jonas Braciulis, and 15-year-old brother were found the night before.

Sheriff's officials would not release the children's names because they are juveniles.

The family had embarked on a day hike on the Tarbell Trail from the picnic area, beyond Hidden Falls and near Sturgeon Rock, on Sunday.

The four were three miles down the trail, which is heavily forested, winding and steep. Assuming the sisters were right behind him, the males walked ahead.

"All of sudden, they realized: 'Oh, they're not right behind us,' " said Clark County sheriff's Sgt. Steve Shea.

That's when the father and son started searching and they realized, they too, were lost.

After several hours of searching, the father got reception on his cellphone and placed a 911 call. The father was seen by rescue hikers three miles south of the picnic area. With the father's direction, searchers kept looking.

Clark County sheriff's search-and-rescue members started the search shortly after 7:30 p.m. It grew to include 14 agencies from Clark and Cowlitz counties and Northern Oregon.

With the help of the father and son, searchers combed an eight-mile radius southeast of the Tarbell picnic area, occasionally reaching higher peaks still covered with snow.

As many as 50 searchers looked on foot, on horseback, on motorized vehicles and in helicopters.

At about 10:30 a.m., rescue-team volunteers Tyler Komm and McClain reached the ravine south of Coyote Creek, about a mile off the trail. They called the girls' names as they pushed through the nearly waist-deep brush. That's when they heard calls for help.

The rescuers followed the noises until they reached the girls, who they said were frightened at first. Komm and McClain assured them they were there to help.

After they walked the girls up the ravine, a paramedic checked them for injuries and drove them back to the picnic area to reunite them with their father — a quiet occasion hidden from onlookers.

The family declined requests for an interview.

The girls were experienced hikers, Shea said, but hadn't climbed the Tarbell Trail before. Yet, for the most part, they did what Shea advises all hikers to do after becoming lost:

"Once you realize you're lost," he said, "Stay put."