Albertville Man, Son Rescued after Surviving Michigan Blizzard on Snowmobiles

Two Albertville men are thankful to be alive after a blizzard overtook them and left them stranded in the wilderness of Michigan’s Porcupine Mountains Sunday night and much of Monday, Jan. 27.

Benjamin Jenney  and Benjamin Jenney Jr  (“BJ”) were lost and disoriented near Silver City in the Upper Peninsula’s Ontonagon County late Sunday afternoon. The two men were able to send a text saying they were stuck in the woods at around 5:30 p.m., but they did not have survival gear.

The Michigan State Patrol worked with county and city authorities, as well as local snowmobilers and volunteers, to work throughout the night Sunday, until the search was called off due to weather and darkness. It resumed Monday, according to ABC 10 News, and the men were found via a technique called “cell phone triangulation,” which traced the origin of the text message sent Sunday evening.

The men were found around 6 p.m. Monday after another eight hours of searching, which commenced after blizzard conditions subsided. They were in good health, and treated for symptoms of hypothermia and dehydration at a local hospital.

The Michigan Department of Natural Resources and the U.S. Forest Service assisted in the search as well.

KSTP, the ABC affiliate in the Twin Cities, reports the two men went “off-trail” and hit a creek bed, where they were stuck. The cell phone transmissions helped narrow the search area, however, and when conditions improved, authorities moved quickly to find the men. 

Wind chills were 25 below overnight Monday in the UP area of Michigan.