What could have been a tragedy Tuesday night turned out to be a life-saving effort by the Randolph County Sheriff’s Department and two area farmers. Sheriff Mark Nichols says his department tried to respond to a call of a possible stranded motorist on a County Road southwest of Moberly, but their patrol cars got stuck en route. Nichols says two farmers nearby brought out their tractors and broke up the snow drifts.
“Proceeded down the road and found the stranded vehicle, however the occupant was not inside. Turned down 2450… searching down that road, and found the victim lying in the ditch on a snow bank. We responded, he busted up the drifts and we were able to get through there. She was unresponsive but was breathing. We loaded her into my patrol vehicle and immediately got out onto the highway,” Nichols said.
They got the woman to an ambulance, then to the hospital. Nichols says he talked to the woman Thursday morning.
“She’s doing much better. She was very, very thankful. She explained she had been stuck from about 1:00 that afternoon but had stayed with her car until about 6:00. That’s when she left to walk to a family member’s house. That’s when she was overcome by the cold and collapsed,” Nichols said.
Sheriff Nichols says he, Chief Deputy Nevin Turner and the farmers finally located the woman at 10:00 Tuesday evening.
The Sheriff credits the farmers, Kenneth and Stan Wemhoff for helping to save the life of the victim.
(Story by Bill Peterson, of Missourinet affiliate KWIX)
