Lost Nevada Family Heated Rocks to Survive

The Nevada family who had been missing in frigid conditions since the weekend has been found alive and authorities say the story has a happy ending because they did a lot of things right. The group, who became stranded when their Jeep rolled over an embankment and into a crevice, had told relatives where they were going, were prepared for cold weather, improvised to stay warm, and perhaps most importantly, stayed with the vehicle and waited for rescue instead striking out on their own, CNN reports. Even amid sub-zero temperatures, they experienced "no frostbite, just some exposure issues," says a hospital official.

James Glanton, his girlfriend Christina McIntee, their two kids, and a niece and a nephew were stuck "four miles from civilization" and were lucky they didn't try to cover the distance on foot, a Nevada Civil Air Patrol spokesman tells NBC. "They stayed with the vehicle. Otherwise, there would have been at least one recovery involved instead of a save." They are now all in stable condition. The local sheriff, who knows Glanton, says he was impressed with how he heated rocks in a fire and put them in a spare tire to keep the kids warm inside the vehicle. "I didn’t know he had survival skills like that," he tells the Reno Gazette-Journal. "I want to shake his hand." (More Nevada stories.)