Missing Montana motorcyclist survives 5 days with collapsed lung and multiple fractures by drinking creek water.
24-year-old Zachary Demos and two friends set out on a summertime road trip on their motorcycles. As the trio traveled down Highway 12 in Idaho, Demos's riding partners noticed his Kawasaki Vulcan parked on the side of the road. The two continued to the next turnaround before pausing for Demos to catch up.
After waiting a while and with no sign of Demos, they retraced their path in an attempt to reconnect. They made it all the way to where they had seen Zachary's motorcycle, but upon their return... the motorcycle was gone.
The two hurried to the next planned rendezvous point and waited. While waiting they asked everyone they came in contact if they had seen anyone fitting Zachary's description. With no luck waiting at the rendezvous or asking the public, the two began to frantically search until 4 a.m. to no avail.
Zachary Delos was officially reported missing on August 12th and the Idaho County Sheriff's office began a search and rescue effort. In the days that followed they used everything from drones and helicopters to boots on the ground, but sadly there was still no sign of Zachary.
After days of no luck the Sheriff's department scaled back the search, however Zachary's family and friends weren't throwing in the towel yet. They continued scouring the countryside on foot. Finally on the fifth day of searching, Greg Common spotted Zachary, saying, "Something just willed me to look (to my) right and there he was."
Zachary had been laying in the creek bed for 5 days aware of the search effort and even hearing calls for his name but unable to alert anyone of his presence. He had suffered a collapsed lung and several broken bones. Zachary had been surviving on creek water and toughness for 5 days.
Immediately after finding him, Common alerted authorities and Zachary was finally rescued from his excruciating ordeal.
His parents say they never gave up on finding him but with multiple serious injuries he has a long road of recovery ahead.
Our thoughts are with Zachary as he begins his rehab. With a toughness like his, we are sure he will be road tripping again soon.
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