Dad and 3 Kids Missing in Calif. Snow

**Illiy** · 12-19-07, 02:10 PM

Dad and 3 Kids Missing in Calif. Snow
Last Edited: Wednesday, 19 Dec 2007, 9:15 AM PST Created: Wednesday, 19 Dec 2007, 9:15 AM PST
(Credi: MyFox)

By DON THOMPSON
Associated Press Writer

SACRAMENTO, Calif. -- Stormy weather that has dropped heavy snow has hindered the search for a man missing with his three children on a Christmas tree-hunting trek in the Northern California mountains.
Frederick Dominguez, 38, and his children -- Christopher, 18, Alexis, 14, and Joshua, 12 -- have been missing since Sunday in the region about 100 miles north of Sacramento.
Dominguez's pickup truck was found Monday night parked along a mountain road some 25 miles northeast of Chico.
More than a foot of snow fell in the area by Tuesday afternoon and more heavy snowfall was forecast.
The family was not equipped to spend the night outdoors, with temperatures in the upper 20s, Paradise Police Sgt. Steve Rowe said. Rescuers described the area as rugged, marked by steep canyons.
"They weren't expecting snow and they weren't thinking that they were going to be out there very long," Dominguez's ex-wife, Lisa Sams, told Fox News on Wednesday.
Nearly 50 people joined the search Tuesday, when steady snowfall prompted the California Highway Patrol to require chains or snow tires across all major routes through the Sierra Nevada.
The weather is part of a series of storms that is expected to bring rain and snow to California into the new year.
"It's actually a pretty active pattern," meteorologist Kyle Mozley said Tuesday at the National Weather Service office in Reno, Nev. "It looks like this could be a pretty good white Christmas. It's just one storm after another."
The first wave brought about an inch of rain across Northern California on Monday and Tuesday.

Copyright 2007 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

**adroitcuffs** · 12-19-07, 02:51 PM

Why is the cynical part of my mind thinking this is a good scenario for a murder/suicide?

I think I need a real vacation, LOL!

**Willowdared** · 12-19-07, 04:09 PM

They were apparently in search of a Christmas tree.....

**adroitcuffs** · 12-19-07, 04:37 PM

Great news!!!

BREAKING NEWS
Calif. family found alive after being lost for 3 days

Father, 3 children disappeared while looking for Christmas tree

updated 1 hour, 54 minutes ago

SACRAMENTO, Calif. - A father and his three children who trekked into a remote Northern California mountain range were found alive Wednesday, three days after they went looking for a Christmas tree and vanished.
"They have found all four, and they appear to be OK," said Paradise Police Sgt. Steve Rowe.
He said rescuers were preparing to airlift the family out of the mountains and evaluate their condition.

Article: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/22328662/