FRESNO COUNTY, Calif. (KFSN) — A miracle in the mountains.
In his own words, Ron Dailey, the missing Selma man, retracts his steps from the wilderness.
On October 13th, Dailey went out for a day of hunting near Swamp Lake Trail- east of Dinkey Creek.
“I’ve been up 3/4, halfway going deer hunting up there for all my life. But it’s a rocky trial,” said Dailey.
Dailey said he decided to travel down from more than 10,000 feet of elevation. But he made a wrong turn. On his way down, he said he damaged his truck.
Action News obtained this video from a Central Valley 4-wheeler group showing Dailey’s damaged vehicle.
“There’s a ton of huge rocks and drop-offs and things. It’s a very dangerous road,” said Dailey.
He found himself stuck on the rocky mountain. With lots of water, limited food and snowy weather, Dailey used his truck as shelter.
After weeks of waiting and even hearing helicopters nearby, Dailey says God told him it was time to go home.
He walked for most of the day before a miracle.
“I go, ‘Lord, you gotta bring a vehicle up this road right now to save my life or I gotta stop and build a fire to survive the night. I’m not gonna survive out in this hold without a fire or without a car coming up. And he goes, look up, and I look up and there’s a Tahoe there with the headlight shining on me,” said Dailey.
While Dailey was missing, a massive effort to find him was underway.
Dozens of volunteers scoured the mountain community for him and several law enforcement agencies all pitched in to bring Dailey home.
“The outpouring of love in this community, the faith community. The Fresno County rescue people are just phenomenal. I could not believe the air national guard, I could not believe what was going on.” said Dailey.
Dailey was taken to Clovis Community Medical Center, where he was eventually cleared to go home.
He takes full responsibility for getting lost in the mountains and said it’s something he’ll never do again.
“I made a promise to the Lord. I go ‘Lord, I won’t kill no more of your animals, I’m done’. And so, my wife said no more hunting and I said, ‘Honey, that’s not a problem, ‘” said Dailey.
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