A Great Christmas Gift for Sacramento Area Family

This is a wonderful happy ending for a family here in the Sacramento area.

A father and three children who vanished on a Christmas tree-cutting trip in the Northern California mountains were found alive Wednesday after huddling in a culvert for warmth during three days of heavy snow.

“Our hearts are all full right now,” said Cory Stahl, who closed his pest control business so his employees could help look for the father, Frederick Dominguez, their co-worker. “It’s a very merry Christmas now.”

A California Highway Patrol helicopter crew spotted Dominguez atop a small bridge and landed nearby, sinking into 2 feet of snow, flight officer David White said. The family had taken shelter in a culvert beneath the bridge and stomped “help” in the snow, White said.

White said it was the last opportunity for the helicopter, with snow falling heavily as it descended.

“With another storm coming in, they were just happy to get out of there and get home,” he said.

The helicopter ferried the family to safety in two trips, the two youngest children brought out of the woods first.

Daughter Alexis, 14, and Joshua, 12, stepped from a rescue helicopter and were immediately enveloped in a cluster of well-wishers carrying heavy blankets while the chopper went to fetch their father and brother.

Dominguez smiled at cheering family and friends as he and 18-year-old Christopher emerged from the helicopter a short time later.

All four were walking, talking and drinking hot chocolate while being checked at Feather River Hospital for dehydration, hypothermia and frostbite, treating physician Kurt Bower said. He expected them to be released later in the day.