Man Survives 16 Days Buried in Snow

P O R T L A N D, Ore., Dec. 27 -- An Air Force man who allegedly went AWOLgot trapped in a snowdrift for 16 days, surviving on M&Ms andscrawling a farewell note to his parents before snowmobilers cameupon him in his car.

When he gets out of the hospital in the next few days, he willbe returned to his base in South Dakota to face desertion charges,authorities said.

Thomas Wade Truett, 29, was in fair condition today,recovering from hypothermia.

The snowmobilers who found Truett said he wore no coat orsweater, only a T-shirt. He had lost 20 pounds, surviving on onlyorange juice, water and a package of almond M&Ms, police said.

“He’s got some healing that he needs to do,” sheriff’s Cpl.Neil Mackey said. “What he went through, it’s enough to make asane man crazy.”

Truett, an airman first class who enlisted in early summer, hadrecently succumbed to personal problems, Mackey said. He fled hisjob as a fuel manager at Ellsworth Air Force Base in Rapid City,S.D., on Dec. 3 and drove to Oregon, the sheriff’s office said.

Four days after he set out, Truett’s sports car became stuck inblustery weather on a snowy, rural road in Oregon’s DeschutesNational Forest, Mackey said. He survived four days in the woods,using a cigarette lighter to build small fires.

A Claw Tapping on the Glass

After depleting the lighter fuel, Truett tried hiking out of theforest but was too weak. He retreated to the car, consumed hismeager rations and wrote a note to his parents in Florida, datedDec. 13.

On Friday, after 11 days in the car, Truett heard snowmobilespassing and threw his backpack, a notebook and some clothing outthe window to let people know he was there, Mackey said. He wasn’tfound for another day, when a group of snowmobilers came by anduncovered the black fabric of the backpack.

Chuck Bloom tossed the frozen bag aside into a drift, knockingsome snow away and revealing the glint of a car window.