Roundup: Man rescued after 4 days in backcountry, Hwy 126 crash kills 2nd victim

Here's a roundup of recent incidents and announcements from Ventura County agencies:

65-year-old saved after days in backcountry

Ventura County Sheriff's deputies rescued a 65-year-old Arizona man stranded in the backcountry on Tuesday, four days after his vehicle got stuck in a creek off a remote service road.

It was, in part, a road closure that saved him.

"He got very lucky," sheriff's Deputy Josh Vulich said in an interview Friday. "He would have been there all winter."

As winter rains approach each year, the U.S. Forest Service shuts down many of the service roads and trails crisscrossing the county's remote forest areas, much of which is only accessible by off-road vehicles and typically does not have cell service.

The service chose Tuesday for this season's shutdown. Early in the evening on the 26th, Vulich said, a motorist who'd called for help after getting stuck behind a newly locked winter gate in the Grade Valley area told a deputy and dispatcher they'd seen other vehicles still behind the gate.

The duo drove into the area, searching, and about 10 miles from the highway the dispatcher spotted a faint light. The light turned out to be a flashlight carried by the man, who had seen headlights and scrambled from his marooned vehicle to a more visible spot, Vulich said.

If it weren't for the first driver, Vulich said, deputies would not have searched the area.

By the time he was found, the man appeared malnourished and was wearing wet clothing, officials said in a news release. Without food and water and with freezing temperatures approaching, "the subject may not have survived much longer."

The searchers took the man to a "safe location," then returned with heavy machinery on Dec. 28. They were able to drag the vehicle from the muck, get it to the highway and set the man on on his way, Vulich said.

Stuck vehicles aren't new, but "it's uncommon for us not to know for four days," he said.

Vulich cautioned against drivers trying out the closed roads. "We're here to help get you out of the situation, not necessarily to get your vehicle out every time," he said.

People traveling in remote areas should bring GPS-trackable devices and inform loved ones of travel plans so they can contact law enforcement if someone is overdue, officials said.

Highway 126 crash killed 2nd person

The day after a Dec. 20 head-on collision on Highway 126 east of Santa Paula killed a 29-year-old woman, the crash took the life of her partner.

John Sibthorp, 35, died on Dec. 21 of injuries sustained in the crash the morning after Amber Wyatt died at the scene, California Highway Patrol Officer Victor Varela said Friday afternoon.

Sibthorp and Wyatt, both of Santa Clarita, were partners, according to a GoFundMe fundraiser launched this week by Wyatt's twin sister to raise money for funeral expenses. The campaign had raised nearly $39,000 toward a goal of $70,000 as of Friday evening.

A third victim, a 44-year-old Fillmore man, was transported along with Sibthorp to Ventura County Medical Center with moderate injuries and was later released, Varela said.

The CHP had previously reported only Wyatt's death.

The crash occurred around 8:35 a.m. on the 126 near the cross with Boosey Road, CHP Officer Jorge Alfaro said at the time of the incident.

Sibthorp was driving a 2018 Honda Civic westbound with Wyatt as his passenger when, for reasons under investigation, the Honda drove into oncoming traffic on the eastbound side, Alfaro said. The Honda struck the Fillmore man's Ford F-150 pickup truck head-on.

The roadway was wet, Alfaro said, but it wasn't immediately known whether rainy weather was a factor. Alcohol and drugs were not considered factors, Alfaro said.

Probationer convicted of drug sales

Jurors convicted a 48-year-old Ventura man who was found with drugs for sale while he was on probation, prosecutors said.

Jason Quinn was found guilty Tuesday of two felony counts of possessing drugs for sale, one involving fentanyl and the other methamphetamine, the Ventura County District Attorney's Office said in a news release. He was also found guilty of driving with a suspended license. The court found true a special allegation he was on probation at the time.

In May, Ventura Police Department officers working as part of a county fentanyl unit conducted a traffic stop for an outstanding warrant and Quinn's suspended license, according to prosecutors. A K-9 police dog alerted officers to narcotics in the vehicle and a probation search was done at his residence.

Detectives recovered what prosecutors described as a relatively small amount of drugs for a sales case: two half-ounce bindles of fentanyl, 6 grams of meth and 47 grams of meth with THC, along with other evidence.

But Quinn had pleaded guilty in March to possessing fentanyl for sales, prosecutors said, and was given the Dangerous Drug Advisement, which warns convicted defendants of fentanyl dangers and tells them they can be charged with murder if someone dies from fentanyl-laced drugs they sell.

The advisement is something the DA's office takes seriously, said Senior Deputy DA Ethel Hernandez in a statement, noting only a few grams of fentanyl can be deadly. The highly addictive synthetic opioid can be 50 to 100 times more powerful than morphine, authorities said.

Quinn is scheduled to be sentenced on the morning of Feb. 15 in room 46 of Ventura County Superior Court.

Items may be updated.

Isaiah Murtaugh covers education for the Ventura County Star in partnership with Report for America. Reach him at isaiah.murtaugh@vcstar.com or 805-437-0236 and follow him on Twitter @isaiahmurtaugh and @vcsschools. You can support this work with a tax-deductible donation to Report for America.

This article originally appeared on Ventura County Star: Roundup: Man rescued after 4 days in Ventura County backcountry, more