UPDATE 4/9/09 - 6:15 PM
by Matt McDonald
 
Lost overnight in the snowy wilderness about five miles northwest of mount bachelor, Matthew Euteneier clung to his cell phone talking with search and rescue, they thought they had found his tracks.
 
"He said there would be some searchers there really quick, and there wasn't anybody for an hour, then two hours," said Matt.
 
That's when Matt got scared. The next call from search and rescue, he missed. And that's when they got worried.
 
"About three o'clock this morning, we made the decision that we weren't sure we were going to be able to find him and we needed to bring in another team," said Sergeant Scott Shelton, a Search and Rescue Commander with the Deschutes County Sheriff's Office.
 
On the ground, volunteers on snowmobiles, snowshoes and cross country skis were looking for Matt. An attempt to locate his phone with GPS failed. An Airlink helicopter with night vision turned back in bad weather. At home, Abby Edwards, his girlfriend, 20 weeks pregnant was waiting in agony.
 
"At first I heard they were within an hour of him, and so I thought, OK, I can finally rest because they are closer, then the next phone call was not as positive," said Abby.
 
Wednesday morning, Euteneier had parked at Mount Bachelor, heading on foot towards Todd Lake for some back country snowboarding and to celebrate his 30th birthday. But a storm created near white out conditions. He got wet after crossing Fall Creek. At 7:30 PM Wednesday night, Abby called for help.
 
"I just kept thinking, what would it be like to have that baby without Matt," said Abby.
 
It's a question, Abby will not have to answer. At 5:30 in the morning, rescuers found Matt. A few minutes later, he checked his phone one last time, finding a text message from Abby.
 
"It says, 'They found you love. I'll holding you so soon and never letting go. We've been up all night, praying for you. GPS for your birthday love. You are my everything.' And then my phone died," said Matt.
 
04/09/09 Bend
 
 
At approximately 7:38, Wednesday evening, Deschutes County 911 received a call requesting assistance to locate a lost snowboarder who was in the area of Todd Lake.  The initial request came from a family member who had spoken to 30 year old Mathew Euteneier of Bend.
 
Deputies from the Deschutes County Sheriff's Office made contact by telephone with Mr. Euteneier.  Based upon the information received from Mr. Euteneier, Search and Rescue was contacted and activated.
 
At approximately 8:30 PM, phone contact was made between Mr. Euteneier and Search and Rescue staff.   During the conversation Mr. Euteneier indicated that he had left earlier in the day for a snowboarding/hiking trip.  He had become disoriented and was attempting to find his way back to a trailhead or roadway for approximately 6 hours.  Mr. Euteneier attempted to provide as much detail as possible about his location and was advised to remain in one place.  With the assistance of the cell phone company, an attempt to locate Mr. Euteneier was made utilizing a GPS feature in his cell phone.  However, the information that was provided by the cell company was inaccurate due to dated technology in the phone.
 
  At approximately 9:30 PM, Search and Rescue personnel and one member of the USFS were sent to the area of Todd Lake cut off and the Cascade Lakes Highway. Search and Rescue teams dispatched to the field included snowmobile search teams, ski teams and snowshoe teams.
 
Communication continued intermittently throughout the night with Mr. Euteneier in order to maintain the battery strength in his phone.  Based upon information that had been received, search teams began a search of multiple trails.  The search area covered approximately 28 square miles.
 
At approximately 1:30 am, Air Link pilots and crew launched their aircraft with a Search and Rescue member on board in an attempt to assist with the search.  Air link was forced to return to Bend due to hazardous flying conditions.
 
As the night continued communication became limited and was eventually lost with Mr. Euteneier.  Weather conditions throughout the night changed often.
 
Due to the complexity and length of the search it was determined to request additional resources for the daylight hours in the event that Mr. Euteneier was not located. Additional resources were scheduled to arrive at 6:00 am to relieve the search teams in the field.  These resources included Deschutes County Sheriff's Deputies, Search and Rescue team members, Jefferson County Sheriff's Office Search and Rescue and USFS Law Enforcement Officers.
 
Search and Rescue teams continued to search throughout the night and at approximately 5:25 am a Deschutes County Sheriff's Office Search and Rescue snow shoe team located the subject after following tracks that had earlier in the night been located by a ski team.
 
Mr. Euteneier was located in the Fall Creek drainage area approximately 5 miles northwest of Todd Lake and approximately 3 miles north of Sparks Lake.
 
Mr. Euteneier was in fair condition and was treated at the scene, provided additional clothing, food and water and then walked out with the Search and Rescue team until meet by snowmobile teams and then transported back to the area of Dutchman Flat were a command post had been established.  He was reuinted with his family Thursday morning.