Wednesday, January 03, 2024, at 0:50 a.m. (ET), our systems received a request for help with an offroad recovery in North Carolina. Memphis Baker, the requester, submitted this brief request: “1994 Ford ranger, the vehicle is stuck by the creek. The owner is not with the vehicle, he will need a ride to the vehicle as well. / he is not with the vehicle”
After receiving Memphis’s request past midnight, we promptly reached out to him. Subsequently, we opted to enlist the assistance of volunteers the following morning to aid in the recovery efforts, taking advantage of daylight.
In the morning, we awaited Memphis to share his location, as he had left the vehicle behind. He required someone to pick him up from Glade Valley and proceed from there to the location where the vehicle had been left by the creek.
At 7 a.m., Memphis sent us his location, and we activated the request, sending it to local volunteers. From the volunteers contacted, after only 10 minutes, one took over the recovery, Jacob Countiss. He was 90 minutes away but willing to go. An hour later he was en route after contacting Memphis and coordinating the whole thing.
A few hours later, Jacob updated our lobby, and he was also stuck. He had no winch and was getting himself in trouble on the creek bed. Finally, he managed to get out, took Memphis back home, and sent this update: “After getting there and walking the scene, we tried a come along, but there are not enough appropriate anchor points. Also tried to tug with my vehicle, the creek bed was too rocky to build enough momentum and traction. Truck’s rear differential is high centered on a rock.“
We activated the ticket again, and on the morning of the following day, I started contacting a few local volunteers who we knew had winches. A few hours later, we had Mark Shirk contact Memphis and coordinate with him. Some other volunteer was bringing Memphis back to the creek, and Mark drove there to help extract the vehicle.
By 4:30 p.m., on the third day, the vehicle was extracted. We want to thank all the volunteers who got involved in this request. You guys all saved the day.
We always need more volunteers, especially in North Carolina. If you would like to receive a text message when we get a request near you, create your account here: offroadportal.org/signup