4 Vancouver men safe after night on Sandy River

Four Vancouver rafters were found safe Tuesday morning after they spent the night on the Sandy River in Oregon.

A group of six rafters started the river float at Oxbow Park at about 4:30 p.m. Monday, but shortly after starting, two rafters decided to stop and walked back to their vehicles, according to the Multnomah County Sheriff’s Office.

The pair drove to Dabney State Park and waited for the four rafters, but they never arrived, the sheriff’s office said.

Deputies began searching at about 11:30 p.m. and worked into Tuesday morning. Shortly before 5:30 a.m., a U.S. Coast Guard crew spotted the rafters on a sandbar a few miles upriver from Dabney State Park, landed on the sandbar and picked up the rafters, who were cold but uninjured, the sheriff’s office said.

The four Vancouver rafters were identified as Cody West, 27, Chris Penhall, 30, Tevin Cotton, 23, and Cory Hood, 34.

They told authorities that they couldn’t see where they were going once it got dark, so they stopped at the sandbar for the night. They had some food and water and were able to make a fire, authorities said.