I wanted to post my husband’s point of view on our experience first. Because, let’s face it – that’s the story people want to hear anyway. Nobody is likely interested in all that happened behind the scenes. But things were happening and it wasn’t great. I process things by typing them out, plus I’m the one keeping this blog, so you get my story first. And, as a side note, Brandon is currently upstairs sleeping and I don’t have the heart to wake him up. Brandon did write his side of the story as well, so make sure you check that out.
Missing Persons: Ashley’s Point of View
My brother (Brandon) and my husband (also Brandon – who shall be referred to by his nickname “Bob” so as to avoid more confusion than necessary) had been talking about going camping together for a few weeks. They’d heard about Curtis Lake – an isolated lake in the Boise National Forest just east of Cascade, Idaho. To get to the lake, you have to drive to the trail head and then hike about three miles on foot. All the research Bob had done stated that the hike itself wasn’t a challenging one.
Around 2:00pm on Sunday, the boys left for their trip, with the intention of returning sometime early Monday afternoon. I teased them about being heathens for going camping on the Sabbath, but the nature of our conversation prior to their departure was lighthearted and everyone was in good spirits. I hung out at my parent’s house for the rest of the day on Sunday.
Because I’m a pretty normal wife, I always worry about Bob anytime he’s gone overnight. Of course I have occasional intrusive thoughts when he goes camping – what if he gets hurt or lost or worse – but for some reason with this particular camping trip, I wasn’t worried at all. For all of Sunday and Monday morning I was fine. I was running errands all morning on Monday – exercise class, visiting teaching, swimming lessons, grocery shopping. By the time we’d finished everything, it was about 2:00pm. I’d been solo-parenting our two kids (and the third in my belly) for a full 24 hours and I was definitely ready for Bob to get home.
I tidied up the house a bit in preparation for the smoke-and-dirt-covered clothes that Bob would bring home shortly. And then I sat down to do some homework after the kids fell asleep. It was about this point that I started to wonder why I hadn’t heard from Bob at all. They hadn’t given me an exact time of when they’d be home – and I knew cell service was spotty in Cascade – but I thought FOR SURE by this point they’d be on their way home and would have been able to call me.
3 o’clock turned to 4 and they still weren’t home. I called my mom to see if she’d heard anything, but she hadn’t. I reminded myself that it’s possible they would be later than I’d thought. After all, they’d only said they’d be home in the “early afternoon” and anybody who is married knows that means something different to husbands on a camping trip than it does to wives waiting at home with the kids.
But by 5:00pm when they still weren’t home, I was angry. Sure, I was angry that they weren’t home yet – I was exhausted, after all – but I was mostly just angry that they wouldn’t call me. Surely they were close enough to have cell service by now. Around 6:00pm I called my mom again, who STILL hadn’t heard anything. We weren’t too worried yet, but our frustration was growing by the minute. And by 7:00pm we decided that SOMETHING was up. Even if they didn’t have cell service for some reason, they would have stopped SOMEWHERE and given us a call. Whenever we tried to call either of them, the calls went straight to voicemail. This told us their phones were either off, dead, or they just didn’t have reception – none of which was comforting or helpful.
It was about 7:00pm that my dad and sister started the drive up to Cascade, fully expecting to pass the little Nissan Versa Bob and Brandon were driving. There is really only one way to get to Cascade from Boise – we figured they’d either find them stuck on the side of the road somewhere or just pass them coming back.
At 9:00pm my mom called and let me know that my dad was 13 miles from Cascade and still hadn’t found them. By this point my anger disappeared and was replaced with worry. My dad contacted the police in Cascade and they called me for more information. Thankfully, I had paid attention to what Bob had told me about the lake. I could tell the sheriff exactly where they were planning to go and do. The sheriff and my dad headed to the two main trailheads that lead to Curtis Lake – hoping to find the car the boys had been driving.
But it wasn’t there. The sheriff called me again and told me the news. He let me know that he knows the area well and there are really only two ways to get into Curtis Lake from the road. We knew this meant that either 1) the boys had decided to blaze their own trail through the forest or 2) that they had never made it there in the first place.
I spent a long time on the phone with the sheriff, being questioned about any and all things. Do they have a history of running away? Do they suffer from any mental illnesses? What was the mood like when they left? Do they have enough food and water and clothing? Do I have any reason to believe they were a danger to themselves or each other? And a whole lot more questions that no person wants to be asked about their husband and brother.
It was clear there was nothing that could be done at night. They couldn’t send people wandering in the dark. And even if they COULD, they wouldn’t send out search-and-rescue without the car being found – since we couldn’t be sure they were ever even in the immediate area.
My older brother, Ryan, came over to spend the night at the house so I wouldn’t have to be alone. I’m not sure if he thinks he helped at all, but what I really just needed was to not be alone. I contacted Bob’s boss and let him know the situation. He told me that the last thing I needed to worry about was that Bob wouldn’t be showing up for his shift. He told me he’d pray hard and get people to cover for him.
I called Bob’s parents and filled them in. It was hard to know WHEN to tell them what was going on. For hours we didn’t really know how serious the situation was and we didn’t want to worry anyone unnecessarily. But by this point it was about 10:00pm – so something WAS wrong.
I didn’t sleep much that night. I had a dream in the few hours I did manage to sleep that I had gone up to Cascade to look for the boys. In the dream I found them – they were totally fine and had just decided to stay another night. And this would have been kind of believable, if Bob hadn’t missed his graveyard shift at work.
I woke up at about 6:00am on Tuesday morning, kind of in a daze and definitely in denial about what was happening. My husband and brother were missing. And that was hard to wrap my head around. I called my mom and she told me that my dad and sister had gotten home at about 3am with no updates on our family members. But my dad had just gotten off the phone with the sheriff – he was sending people out to look for the car. I texted Bob’s siblings to give them a heads up and to ask for their prayers. I texted my bishop as well, knowing that we needed all the prayers we could get.
About 6:30am C woke up. She had slept in my bed that night. She sat up and immediately asked, “Is Daddy home yet?” To which I tearfully responded, “No, not yet.” (At this point, she knew that he was supposed to be home and wasn’t, though she didn’t understand the extent of the situation). She paused and then said, “Well, I think he was eaten by wolves.” Hmm. Thanks, C. Definitely not what I wanted to hear. Then she sweetly patted my arm and said, “But it’s going to be okay.” At the time it wasn’t funny, and even now it’s still not funny. But I’m sure someday it will be.
Around 8:00am my dad, brothers, and father-in-law headed out for Cascade to assist in the search and to make sure that everything that could be done was being done. Even my oldest brother drove 4 1/2 hours from where he lived in Northern Idaho to assist in the search as well.
I got ready for the day and headed to my parent’s house – so that neither my mom nor I had to be alone. My brother Caleb was a ROCK STAR and took care of my kids for me all day. They had fun playing with their uncle and I was glad that at least THEY had some sort of normalcy to their day.
At 10:00am, my mom got a text from my dad saying that they had found the car that my brother and husband had been driving. I cannot even explain the excitement we felt. It seemed like there was a light at the end of this bizarre tunnel. It felt like we would finally get some answers – that our loved ones would be home soon and all would be right. What a relief it was to know that they had at least made it to where they wanted (even though they weren’t parked at one of the main trail heads).
We were feeling pretty good after the news. The discovery of the car meant that search-and-rescue could finally be called out and we could get some bodies on the ground searching. We were hopeful that they would find them soon. An hour passed with no more to report. But that was okay – we knew it would probably take some time.
Because C has a surgery coming up next week, I had to take her to her pre-op appointment with her urologist. I was feeling okay during the appointment and could almost forget about the issue at hand. But by the time I got out of the appointment around noon, I was feeling hopeless again. My mom hadn’t texted, which meant that there were no updates. I don’t know why I had expected there to be an update so soon, but it was discouraging that there wasn’t one.
I got back to my parent’s house and my mom and I just wallowed. Every minute that passed with no news was so long but each hour seemed to fly by. We knew that there was only so much daylight and if night came before the boys were found, they would have to call off the search until morning. We were terrified of going another night without finding them. And so the hours flew by because we wanted them to slow down.
At 1:30pm we decided we needed more prayers. By this point, my mom and I were distraught and any conversation ended in us both hysterically crying. I had also started having painful contractions and back pain – something that you don’t want to have at 27 weeks pregnant. We decided to post on Facebook about the situation – with the hope that we could rally some more prayers on behalf of our family members.
I wrote on Facebook:
“For those who have not already been informed, my husband (Brandon Whitten) and my brother (Brandon Wallentine) left on a camping trip on Sunday afternoon and were supposed to return yesterday afternoon, but have yet to return. The police in Cascade were notified last night and a search is under way. My father, brothers, and father-in-law are all assisting in the search. The last news we heard was about 3 1/2 hours ago – they located the vehicle they were driving which hopefully means that they have been able to send in search-and-rescue. We have heard nothing since as they are not within cell service range. We appreciate any prayers on behalf of my husband and brother, as well as my family and my husband’s family. I believe strongly in the power of prayer and know that if the Lord wills it, they will be brought home to us safely.”
Within minutes of posting, our phones were going crazy. Every second we were receiving texts, calls, and Facebook messages. People offered up their thoughts and prayers, babysitting for my kids, meals, and many even dropped what they were doing to drive up to Cascade to help in the search. The immediate outpouring of love we received was unbelievable. Friends were sharing my post and people that I didn’t even know where messaging me to tell me that they were praying.
Despite all of the prayers and love, my contractions continued. And my hope was fading. There were multiple times throughout that day when I convinced myself that my husband and brother weren’t coming home. There was a solid hour where I was convinced they had passed away. Call it what you will – lack of faith, giving in to fear, pessimism – but it almost felt harder to hope than to prepare myself for the worst possible scenario.
At 2:00pm, we got word that they may need more volunteers in the search in Cascade. I put an update on Facebook, reaching out to anyone who might have connections who could help.
“Update on our missing loved ones: For those who are willing and able to help in searching for my husband and brother, they need volunteers for search-and-rescue. If anyone is available to drive up there, you can check in with the Cascade Sheriff’s department and they will give you a route to drive. I know that is a lot to ask of people, so if you are unable to physically help with the search, please continue to pray for those who are searching for our loved ones. Thank you! Be aware that cell phone coverage is spotty up there as well.”
I knew I couldn’t ask people to drive all the way from Boise, but we were amazed at the number of people who were willing to do just that! My bishop got a group of people from the ward and they were planning on heading up there at 4:00pm. A bunch of other people from my parent’s ward dropped what they were doing immediately after hearing the news and started the drive to Cascade.
And through this, my mom and I were still struggling. But we could feel the prayers that people were saying on behalf of my husband, my brother, my children, my family, and me. People I didn’t know where praying for us and for our loved ones. They were commenting on our shared posts saying that they were on their way to Cascade. People who DIDN’T EVEN KNOW ME or my family! Incredible. IN.CRED.I.BLE.
My Uncle Aaron and my Grandparents came over to my parent’s house. My uncle gave me a sweet blessing. I can’t remember most of it, but I remember him saying that, “God has eyes on your husband and brother.” While I let some doubt in when it was first said, I can see now that that statement was true. I don’t have a doubt in my mind that God was watching out for Brandon and Bob. In addition, I know he sent angels to watch over them. And I’m not saying that as a figurative idea… I mean that there were literally angels watching over and assisting those boys. They may not have seen them, and I didn’t see them, but I know that they were there protecting them.
By 3:00pm I was beginning to lose hope again. I couldn’t open my mouth without crying and the contractions had gotten worse. I started wondering if I was actually going into labor, and so I tried to relax. I was not entirely successful. We continued to respond to phone calls, texts, and Facebook messages. So many sweet messages from so many wonderful people. I hope everyone knows how much we appreciated your sweet words. Mostly, we appreciated your prayers and your willingness to serve us and our family.
At 4:00pm, I was on the phone with an old friend when I heard some kid of commotion and my mom shriek. My grandpa was talking on the phone with someone and my heart sunk. I thought for sure my mom was reacting to some terrible news. Then my grandpa and mom both yelled “They found them!?” at the same time. I quickly hung up the phone and dropped it.
“Update: THEY FOUND THEM! I don’t have anymore information right now. Thank you for all of the prayers. We have felt them and appreciated them more than I can say.”
All we knew was that they had been found and, by the sounds of it, they were alive. We weren’t sure the condition that they were in, but they were alive and that’s all we cared about in that moment. It was only moments after hearing this news that I could breathe again. The funny thing was that I hadn’t realized I’d been having difficulty breathing to begin with. The contractions stopped, as did the back pain.
“Update: My husband and brother are safe and on their way home. As far as we know they are healthy and unharmed, but exhausted. I’m sure we will be posting the full story when we know. I cannot begin to express my gratitude for all of the prayers and love that have come from everyone. I was living my nightmare and I am so happy that it is over and with a good outcome. Thank you to everyone who was so willing to give up their time to help in the search. God is so good. He is always mindful of us. He loves us. Prayers are answered. What else can I even say??”
Waiting for them to get home was horrible. Not as horrible as thinking they were dead, but it was still horrible. I was so antsy and I just wanted to see them. Bob, Brandon, and the family members who had gone up to search stopped at Subway on the way home and we were able to talk to them on the phone. I cannot express how wonderful it was to hear my husband’s voice. He was pretty much crying from the very beginning, but he started crying more when I told him of all of the love and support that we had received. I told him of all the people who had been so willing to go up there and how many were just getting ready to go when we got word that the boys had been found. I think he was a little embarrassed, honestly, but I think he was more overcome by the amount of people who cared about him and my brother.
For those who have been wondering – when the boys got home, I ran to my husband and hugged him… and I didn’t smack him. I was so relieved to see him that I just didn’t have it in me to smack him like I had originally thought I would. He had come home fully expecting me to be angry with him so you can imagine his relief when all I could do was hug him and cry.
We went and saw Bob’s mom (who had definitely had a rough day) and then we headed home, got the kids in bed, and Bob told me some of the happenings of the last two days (after taking a shower, soaking his feet, and checking for ticks, of course). It was so nice to have him home safe.
Now we’re trying to resume our normal lives. It’s surprisingly difficult to go about our regular business. You would think with such a good outcome, it would be easy. But for some reason it’s not. The past two days were my worst nightmare, but that nightmare ended in the best way it possibly could have.
I cannot even contain my gratitude for my Father in Heaven and His angels for protecting my husband and brother. In addition, I can’t contain my gratitude for all of those (whether I know them or not, whether they see this or not) who assisted in the search by means of their prayers, kind words and messages, and physically searching for our boys.
I am just so grateful. I hope you all feel the love that we have for you and your willingness to help. I know there are many who helped in any way that I do not know about and I hope that nobody feels unappreciated. We felt the prayers and we felt the love and concern that you all had for us. Thank you, thank you!