Oak City man rescued from ravine near Dock Flat

50-year-old James John Sever of Oak City is extracted from a ravine by a Utah Department of Public Safety helicopter on Friday. (Photo courtesy of the Box Elder County Sheriff's Department)

July 14, 2018   •   Nelson Phillps   •   Staff Writer

A 50-year-old Oak City man is safely recovering in a Brigham City hospital room after wandering away from his Dock Flat campsite in the early morning hours of July 12.

Dock Flat is located in eastern Box Elder County, between Mantua and Willard Peak.

​According to a press release by the Box Elder County Sheriff's Department, the man, James John Sever, suffered from "significant medical issues," which caused great concern to his friends and family when he could not be located at camp on Thursday morning.

"The missing male had been reported to have been last seen about 1:00 a.m. Thursday morning in his camp," read the release. "When his friend got up the next morning he could not be located. The friend contacted family and they searched for him during the day but were unable to locate him."

Friends and family of Sever searched the area for most of the day on Thursday, and contacted Box Elder Dispatch when darkness began to fall on Thursday night at approximately 8:30 p.m. A Box Elder County deputy responded and determined that search and rescue needed to be deployed. They arrived in the area about 9:00 p.m.

A grid search was started in the immediate area, and a request was put in to the Utah Department of Public Safety (DPS) Areo Bureau for helicopter support.  Ground and air crews searched until approximately midnight, when the search was suspended until 6:00 a.m. Friday morning.

Shortly after noon on Friday a crew from the Box Elder County Horse Posse located Sever in a deep ravine about a mile southeast of the camp.  Sever was given medical treatment and stabilized at the scene by first responders, while a call was placed again to DPS for a helicopter extraction, due to the rough terrain and nature of Sever's injuries.

Brigham City Rescue and Mantua first responders also created a rope rescue line, in case an aerial extraction wasn't possible. DPS was successful in getting Sever out of the ravine, and the rope line was used to get emergency personnel back onto the roadway.

Sever was transported to Brigham City Community Hospital with "non-life-threatening injuries" by Brigham City Ambulance. 

In a statement issued Friday night, the Box Elder County Sheriff's Department thanked all of the agencies involved in the successful rescue, including Box Elder Communications, Box Elder County Sheriff's Search and Rescue, Box Elder County Sheriff's Horse Posse, the Utah Department of Public Safety Aero Bureau, Utah Search Dogs; Brigham City Ambulance and Rescue, Mantua First Responders and Mantua Police.

"We live in a wonderful state where all agencies work toward the greater good; life, care and safety of our citizens," read the statement.