Amazing Rescue, first hand account

By Ryker Conk

It was the afternoon of September 19, 2020, when my dad, Brian Conk, got a text, “We have a Call Out for a missing 10-year-old boy. He has been missing for four hours from Swan Flat area. Family was camped in Cache. Please respond to the State Rd Sheds on 89 for the Rally Point, Bring ATV’s and all applicable gear.”

We did not think much of it because we have gotten these types of texts before, but every time we got things together and were about to leave, we'd get a text saying the search is off. By the time we got home I had texted my uncle Jacob Lamb, to go fly fishing up Logan canyon. He picked me up at my house and we took off for the mountains. We were almost to the top of the canyon when my dad called to say the boy had still not been found, and that he needed Jake's and my help. My dad got everything we needed together within a matter of minutes, we have everything together because of all the hunting trips that we have been on. My dad grabbed me hiking boots, one hoodie, one zip up camo jacket, my binos, and my backpack. When my dad got to the look out of the canyon we stopped by the sheriff’s car so he could give us the coordinates and a radio so we could communicate. The sheriff was nervous to send people out because it was pouring rain and super windy, it had been raining almost the whole day. 

Jake punched the coordinates in his phone and off we went. His phone took us to a two track the ended up as a dead end. We parked our truck there and got everything on that we needed. I strapped on my backpack and off we went, hiking into wet, cold, and thick woods. I probably got 20 yards before I was completely drenched, my coat was soaking wet and my sweatpants were soaking wet as well. I could already feel the water in my boots. Before we dropped off of the mountain to start looking we met up with a guy on a four-wheeler who informed us of his name and that he had heard the boy yelling before it started to rain again and the helicopters flew over him. With that information my dad told me to go lower and work my way across the mountain.  My dad would go straight and my uncle would go up and to the left and we would meet at the bottom of the valley. 

I dropped off and went to the right covering ground as fast as a I could while yelling his name. I walked for probably ten minutes before I heard something, it sounded like the boy, but I could not make out what he was saying. Hearing him made me walk even faster covering more ground. Going through this terrain was some of the most challenging thing I have ever done; keep in mind I have been hunting since I could walk, so I have seen some bad terrain. It was basically straight down, and it was super wet, so I was slipping and sliding everywhere. I stopped counting how many times I had fallen. There was one time where I slipped right into a dead tree knocking It down. I finally got to a little opening on the side of the mountain where I could see, I could not see much but at least I could see something.

 I yelled his name, I got a clear response saying, “what”. I then yelled at my dad telling him I could hear the boy.  When I was looking across the valley to the other side, I spotted something red. I then yelled at him to move a bit; that is when I confirmed I had actually seen the boy.

I yelled saying, “stay where you are at, I see you and I will be to you shortly.” I then hiked straight down falling even more, every time I fell, I got back up faster. I got to the bottom when I looked straight up, there was a 10 foot cliff that I had to climb, but once I climbed it I knew that I was going to be super close to him. Very carefully I scaled my way up this cliff, grabbing anything possible, twigs, grass, and sticking my hands in little cracks so that I could pull myself up. When I got to the top, I saw that he was on the other ridge, there had been a ridge in between me and him that I could not see.

I then leaped my way down as fast as I could and as safe as I could. When I got to the bottom it cleared up a little and I was able to walk faster, when I got to the edge of the ridge that he was on I hiked straight up because I knew he was right above me. I spotted him just where I told him to stay. I walked up to him and asked if he was hurt.  His response was no, except that he had a couple of little scratches on his ankle because he was wearing shorts.

 I could tell he was cold, so I told him to take of his drenched shirt and jacket. Once he took those off, I gave him my black hoodie out of my bag and my camo zip up jacket, within 5 minutes he told me that he was warming up. We are waiting there hoping that my dad and my uncle could make it over to us, but they could not because it was so thick and steep. My dad made me tell him the boys name to confirm I had found him. It was confirmed and a point on the mountain because he had called life flight to come find us because it was pitch black. I had my head lamp so that we could see. In this time of not knowing what to do I had made a connection with this boy and had made a new friend. 

The sheriff called me and asked if I could see the ATV’s lights beneath us down the hill. I could see the lights, but they were two to three miles away, and they could not get to us. The sheriff told the DNR officer to head more north on the trail to see if he could get closer to us.

While I was on the phone with the sheriff, he told me to head north east and we should end up on a two track, so that is what we did. About ten yards is all we got before it started to drop straight down, and it was pure trees. We then went back to the highest point and were told to head north west. The sheriff said we need to go through trees to where it will open and then need to head straight north. That is exactly what we did, I was starting to get a little nervous because it felt like we were making no progress.

We went up hills and down hills until eventually it opened even more into just sagebrush. I told him we were in luck because now we could see more, and that I could see the lights of this ATV and we were super close. I took one more step north and stepped right onto the road that I was told about. I called my dad saying we found the road and he needed to tell the DNR to head up the two track to find us.

That is exactly what happened, we got to the Razor and we packed up our stuff and headed down the mountain to safety and warmth. 

I will never forget how my fly-fishing trip turned into saving a 10-year-old boys life. I am very grateful for the opportunity to help him and his family. I made a friend that night and I will always hold this story close to heart.