Lost hiker finds refuge in stuck truck

By Leslie Wood
Staff Writer

GALLUP — A Gallup man's decision to leave his keys inside his stuck vehicle may have contributed to the survival of a hiker who was lost and drenched in Sunday's snow. Chuck Whitney didn't know he'd come within 100 yards of the 36-year-old Gallup man who was reported missing to police on Monday until he read it in the newspaper.

"I didn't make that connection that he was the same guy until I looked at the paper," Whitney said. "... It's crazy." Like Mike Miller, Whitney and his girlfriend spent Sunday night stranded in the remote area of McGaffey during the recent snowstorm.

Whitney was traveling along County Road 50 when his sport utility vehicle became stuck in a drainage ditch filled with an estimated 5 feet of snow. He spent about four hours trying to remove the vehicle from the ditch. When Whitney saw storm clouds begin to roll into the area, he decided to camp yards from the vehicle rather than risk hiking the hours it would take to reach the nearest campground.

"We were never in any danger at all," Whitney said. "We had full camping gear."

At about 3 a.m., the couple awoke to the sound of what seemed like their vehicle's door slamming and engine revving, but thought little of it because of the remoteness of the location.

"The only reason I left my keys inside the car was because I thought there was no way anyone would be out there," he said.

The next day, Whitney saw foot prints leading from a nearby forest to his vehicle and signs that someone had been inside.

"I thought it could be some kind of criminal," he said. "We were mystified and just kind of freaked out."

Whitney later realized, after reading an article in Tuesday's Independent, that someone, Mike Miller, had been inside his vehicle for a brief period of time to dry his clothes.

"It's an interesting situation," he said.

Police issued a statewide alert on Monday in an attempt to find Miller who left his Gallup home on Sunday for a mid-afternoon hike.

Miller said he lost track of his vehicle after following some elk through McGaffey. During his walk along County Road 50, Miller found an abandoned vehicle that was stuck in a snowy embankment. Miller said, fortunately, the driver left the keys inside the unlocked vehicle and he was able to dry his clothes.

Whitney said he planned to contact Miller on Tuesday to discuss their close encounter.

"We were right there when he was inside the car," Whitney said. "I guess he couldn't see us because our tent was covered in snow."

Miller was eventually driven to Bluewater by a local couple where he was then transported home by a state highway patrolman. He had spent some 23 hours in the storm.