Lost Mushroom Pickers Used Knife To Signal Rescuer

Published February 5, 2012 10:18PM (EST)

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — Three family members lost six nights in the rugged forest of southwest Oregon used their dead cellphone and a sheath knife to flash a signal at the helicopter pilot who found them.

Dan Conne (con-NAY') said Sunday from his hospital bed in Gold Beach, Ore., they spent the nights huddled in a hollow log with nothing to eat, and considered sacrificing their dog Jesse for food before they were found.

A volunteer helicopter pilot looking outside the search area Saturday spotted Dan and Belinda Conne, both 47, and their 25-year-old son, Michael, on the edge of a deep ravine in tall timber.

Dan Conne tells The Associated Press that he and his wife and son had given up hope and thought they were going to die when rescuers came.


By Salon Staff

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