Skid marks lead police to crushed car after worried girlfriend calls 911, WA cops say

A worried woman’s call to 911 is being credited with saving her boyfriend’s life after first responders found him pinned in his crushed car, officials said.

Just after midnight on Dec. 4, Ellensburg police got a call from a woman who said she hadn’t heard from her boyfriend who had been driving up from Yakima hours earlier, according to the Kittitas County Sheriff.

The man’s girlfriend had already called the Washington State Patrol and surrounding hospitals but wasn’t able to track him down, officials said.

The woman provided police with his cell phone information and they were able to find his location through an emergency ping.

His phone was close to the Woodhouse Loop about four miles south of Ellensburg, officials said.

Deputies went to the area and “after 40 minutes of searching the dark roadways Deputy Chuck Berg found skid marks at the intersection of Thrall and Canyon Road,” officials said.

The car’s location was almost a mile from where the ping suggested.

Berg followed the track marks and found the man pinned in his car 50 yards away, officials said. The car wasn’t visible from the roadway.

The man “had multiple injuries and was suffering from cold exposure,” officials said.

Medics responded to treat the man, who was taken to the Harborview Abuse and Trauma Center by air.

Ellensburg is about 110 miles southeast of Seattle.

This story was originally published December 6, 2022 at 10:15 AM.