The body of 18-year-old Jared Hammack of Orleans, Ind., was recovered from the North Fork of Paint Rock Creek on Sunday afternoon, bringing closure to his grieving family.
Locally, a Worland teen is counting his blessings after experiencing a similar accident within minutes of Hammack. Ryan Isbell of Worland was in the same remote area with his girlfriend and his family about noon on July 6.
Hammack was vacationing with his fiancée, his parents and other family members from Indiana when he stood up, slipped and fell into Paint Rock Creek, which is swollen with mountain snow runoffs this time of year. Hammack’s family searched for the teen but he was washed downstream through a chute into a pool and never resurfaced.
“It was right about the same time,” Isbell said. “I was about 50 feet from them climbing a rock and slipped. I didn’t fall into the water like Jared because my ring caught on a rock and skinned my finger down to the bone.”
Isbell said he was able to regain his composure and left the creek area to “walk all the way up to the four-wheelers to get a Band-Aid.”
“That’s when I started hearing their screams for help,” he said.
Isbell said he is thankful that divers were able to locate Jared, noting, “That’s good, at least, for his family.”
Sheriff’s Sergeant Brent Godfrey, who spent a good part of two weeks on the search and talking to Hammack’s family, agrees.
“We got him back for his mom,” Godfrey said.
Godfrey credited all of the Search & Rescue team members, saying, “they didn’t want to quit and they didn’t.”
Isbell described the events as “a pretty scary ordeal” and said the remaining time on vacation just wasn’t the same.
“I think my girlfriend was more scared than I was realizing that could have been me,” he said. “It’s a scary truth, we can go at any time. You never know when your last moment is going to be.”
Isbell is in no hurry to hike near mountain streams.
“It will probably be a long time before I go back there,” he said. “And I probably won’t let my kids climb around in the water like I did when I was little.”
Divers
Two teams of divers were brought in over the weekend to help with recovery efforts, nearly two weeks after the July 6 accident involving Hammack.
Big Horn County Sheriff Ken Blackburn estimates about two dozen people were on scene at Paint Rock Creek on Saturday, including a diver from Washakie County.
“We were successful in getting a diver in the water, but the flow of the river and the particular equipment he had — the tanks on his back would catch the current — literally exhausted him,” Blackburn said. “He was able to clear part of it, but not all of it.
“Mother Nature was working against us, tearing down everything we had including steel cable. The crews were at a real low spot but were not ready to give up.”
Saturday evening Captain Blaine Jolley contacted a specialized diving team from Montana and was able to arrange for some mutual aid assistance on Sunday morning.
“We actually had a small window open up and elected to maintain the site up there and put on one more big push Sunday,” Blackburn said.
On Sunday morning, more attempts were made to divert some of the water current to alleviate some of the tremendous pressure from the chute into the pool, Blackburn said.
Washakie County Search & Rescue again arrived to help and rope riggings and light systems were set up.
“We put some very heavy weights in the water,” he said. “They had small air cylinders designed for this type of rescue.”
The specialized equipment was effective in the churning water and the dive master was able to literally crawl on the bottom of the pool and get to the corner where he needed to be, Blackburn said.
“They found Jared and were able to extricate the young man so that the coroner can start the process of getting this young man home,” Blackburn said.
Blackburn referred all further questions about the investigation to county coroner Del Atwood, who said in a press release that Hammack’s body was transported to Billings, where an autopsy was performed on Monday, July 20. The autopsy results will not be available for several weeks, according to Atwood.
“I will say this, every member of Search and Rescue put their hearts and soul into this mission,” Blackburn said. “We all recognize that we still have work to do and immediately turning our attention to the Big Horn River.”
Brinkerhoff search
Blackburn said the family of Bobby Brinkerhoff, 39, of Shell and formerly of Basin and Greybull, is still waiting for closure after a May 31 boating accident on the Big Horn River. Brinkerhoff’s mother and step-father are Patti and Marvin Harp of Shell.
Brinkerhoff’s body has yet to be recovered, but a team of specialized divers is coming to Big Horn County next week to begin an intensive search using side scan sonar technology.
“Even though the river looks like it has dropped a lot, it is just now at the level it was when he went into the water on May 31. We have confirmed that,” Blackburn said.
John Lynn, a master diver from Sublette County, will lead the team (with members from Sublette, Lincoln, Uinta, Carbon and Sweetwater counties) of specialized divers and rely heavily on side scan sonar — the same high-tech equipment that was used to recover the bodies of three missing fishermen in Flaming Gorge Reservoir near Rock Springs after 12 years.
“They are going to be up here and hopefully we can bring relief for this family, too,” he said.
The divers used in both the Paint Rock Creek and Big Horn River searches were made possible through mutual aid agreements.
“Their diving was free, there was no wages involved but we (the county) do pay travel expenses and food and lodging if necessary,” Blackburn said.
“It’s a typical arrangement for mutual aid. If I were to send a dog out of the area they would pay meals and room for the handler but not wages.
“We filled up their fuel tanks but did not pay them for their time,” he said.
The Sheriff’s Office donates services to any agency who requests help, Blackburn said.
“Sometimes we help each other out so much in the Basin that we don’t even bother with fuel costs,” Blackburn said.
At times meals were supplied for nearly 40 people during the Paint Rock Creek search.
“At times like this you really appreciate all the volunteers and the strong outpouring from the community,” Blackburn said.