River Rescue: Overdue Rafters Found Safe

Four friends from Vancouver rafting the Sandy River are safe after being found on a sandbar where they had spent the night.

The four were discovered around 5:30 Tuesday morning by a United States Coast Guard helicopter involved in the search. The search had started around 11:30 Monday night when they had not returned to Oxbow Park.

The friends - Cody West, 27; Chris Penhall, 30; Tevin Cotton, 23; and Cory Hood, 34 - had set off from Oxbow around 4:30. There were originally six of them but two of the friends decided to head back and drive to Dabney State Park to pick up their friends.

When they never arrived, they called for help.

River patrol and search and rescue coordinators from the Multnomah County Sheriff's Office checked roads running parallel to the river in case the rafters had left the river while the river patrol and Coast Guard checked the air and water.

The helicopter finally spotted them along a sandbar and was able to land near them.

The men told their rescuers that when it got dark and they couldn't see where they were going, they pulled up on the sandbar to spend the night.

They had food and water, and were able to make a fire. The men were cold and tired but were otherwise okay.

The sheriff's office says the men all said that if they did another river float, they would start earlier in the day to make sure they were able get back during daylight.