A missing Duchesne County man spent Christmas in a cold and scary situation but thankfully has lived to tell about it. On December 25th at 10:00 am, 55-year-old Michael Charles Lee of Duchesne County was reported missing after having been last seen Wednesday evening in Hanna. The Utah Department of Public Safety shares that Lee had crashed his red 1999 Toyota Tacoma truck on SR-208 mile marker 8. “The vehicle ran off the road to the West and came to rest approximately 50 feet West of the highway, and down a 60-foot ravine embankment,” shares the press release. “[Lee] suffered incapacitating injuries [and] stayed in the vehicle until [Christmas Day] at 2:00pm when a local resident witness was in the area shooting skeet. [Lee] heard the witness shooting skeet and used his own rifle accompanied by verbal calls for help to gain the attention of the witness. The witness heard additional gunshots and the calls for help and followed the sounds until he located the crashed vehicle. After locating the vehicle, he contacted Central Dispatch and they notified EMS and the Utah Highway Patrol. Fire, EMS, and law enforcement used safety ropes to scale down the ravine to get to [Lee]. Hwy 208 was closed from 2:49 to 3:51pm. [Lee] was life-flighted to the University of Utah for treatment.” The incident remains under investigation.
