Sunday, March 17th, 2024, at 7:00 p.m. (CT), we received a request for help with an offroad recovery in Texas. The requester, Michael Laforce, submitted the following information: “Jeep Wrangler unlimited 4×4 stuck in some mud. I was winching out, but the winch broke; I am currently on the main road. The terrain is not too treacherous, but there has been some rain. Took a side route on the left side coming from the main access point. Pics added. I recently got scammed by a Roadmaster recovery, and they didn’t deliver a driver as promised after trying to upcharge. / I’m not with the vehicle.“
David Mrak, our general administrator, organized this request, verified the contact information and situation, and submitted it to local volunteers in a 50-mile radius.
This recovery started late. Keith Tienken took over the request. Keith was about 50 miles out. He made it to the location pretty late. At around midnight, he was updating the lobby, informing us he needed more help, but he was also stuck.
3:50 a.m. Keith updated the lobby: “We are still out here if anyone is available when the sun comes up.”
When the sun came out, they were able to get themselves free.
Keith later shared this quick note:
The Jeep was stuck approximately 1/4 of a mile from dry trail. I turned my truck onto the track and realized it was in way worse condition than the main track. Unfortunately I stopped in the exact worse position and got my own truck stuck. Me and the caller carried my recovery boards out to the Jeep and slowly got it moving. We made slow progress over a couple of hours and were about 3/4 of the way out. We were very tired and progress had stopped on the Jeep. We decided that it was best to sleep in the rigs and try again when the sun came up. I was able to call a friend to bring my Jeep down. We then pulled my truck out with the new Jeep and a Yankum Rope. Once I was free we were able to get the stuck Jeep out and we all went home safely.
We appreciate Keith’s dedication and commitment to helping others. Awesome job!
If you are in this area and If you would like to receive a text message when we get a request near you, create your account here: offroadportal.org/signup