Finding Melody Braden and Ray Sayers

 Editor's note: In late July, Melody Braden and Ray Sayers were reported missing after having failed to return home after a day hike in the Pyramid Lakes area. The full force of the Boundary County rescue apparatus was called out to find them, Sheriff's Office, Sheriff's Posse, Search and Dive Rescue, but it was a trio of friends, turned away from the main search area and told to go home and let the experts do the work, who, on a gut feeling, stopped and became the ones to find their friends.

By Molly Rivkin

A good friend of Melody Braden, Molly Rivken rode and hiked and climbed to help in the search ... and just happened to finbe at the right place at the right time.

Alicia invited me to join a search team made up of their friend Jim "Corn Man" Cadnum, and neighbor Bob Parker.

Memories of kick the can at night, long games of RISK, afternoons of swimming, and sleepovers with the Braden kids motivated me to go. When I arrived at the Braden's home, Alicia greeted me, telling me that a helicopter was scheduled to search, and a long list of family and friends were already looking. I hopped into the truck with Jim and Bob, meeting them both for the first time. We drove out to the Trout Creek road to find the Deputy Sheriff had closed the road and would not let us pass.

We turned home all feeling disappointed. After a couple of minutes Bob spoke up, saying he did not feel right about just heading home, because he has a daughter too, after all. Jim and I agreed wholeheartedly.

We looked at the map and decided to search Ball Creek drainage instead. We ran into two fellows on four wheelers as we bumped along the dusty, winding mountain road. They told us they had driven up to the end of the road and hollered for a bit. They doubted the truck could make it all the way.

They were right. We parked when the road disappeared into alder brush. From there we planned to hike to the end of the road, and then to Ball Lake, hoping to run into other searchers. None of us really expected to find Ray and Melody, but we had to try.

Our pace was brisk on the over grown road, but slowed to a near crawl when we turned up the mountainside.

We did not have a clear plan in mind, really. A lot of the time we were in yelling distance from one another, but were too far away to see each other. For about an hour and a half we bumbled up the mountainside yelling every so often, and meeting up now and then to discuss our next move.

The afternoon was stunningly beautiful. Jim checked the map every so often in order to chart our progress. We wondered why we could not hear the helicopter, and thought they must have been found, but decided to search until dark anyway.

Then, after an intense session of yelling, we stood quietly and listened.

We heard a voice, and excitedly confirmed it among ourselves that we had all heard it, then took off bounding through the forest and over a creek in pursuit of the noise.

We stopped to yell and listen again, but heard nothing. Bob wanted to hike up, Jim wanted to find others to comb the area, and I wanted to go back to the place we'd heard them before.

Not really knowing what to do, we yelled again and listened.

We heard a faint voice again and charged off toward it.

The voice became clearer and clearer, and soon Ray and Melody popped up out of the woods. Their faces were red with sunburn and glowing with relief!

Jim, Bob, and I overwhelmed them with food, water, and excitement. After they'd had something to eat, we started scrambling back down the mountainside. In our excitement we tried to go too fast, forgetting that Ray and Melody were exhausted after a cold, sleepless and fearful night on the mountainside.

We slowed to accommodate the survivors, and soon we reached the overgrown road. After about ten minutes hiking down it, we got flustered and thought we were on the wrong road, checked the map, went off road for about five minutes, realized our mistake, and got back on track, ending up at the truck.

I am not a professional, and actually have no experience in the search and rescue field, so my first instinct was to contact Melody's family. I was not able to get through because of the amount of phone calls the Braden household was receiving from concerned members of the community.

I called my Mom and asked her to keep trying Alicia. Soon, I got a call from my stepfather, telling me I should call the Sheriff's Office and let them know we had found Melody and Ray, and so I did.

The dispatcher asked us to stay where we were, which was at the bottom of the Trout Creek road.

Then Melody's family arrived and had a tearful and joyful reunion. Meanwhile, a very nice border patroller showed up offering medical attention and blankets. He confirmed Ray and Melody's identity, while friends and family members stood by. When he left we all proceeded back to the Braden's house, where dinner was waiting.

The feeling that sticks out to me most after such an unusual adventure is appreciation for this wonderful community.

So many people came together, volunteered, went out on search parties, answered phones and spent time with Alicia preparing food for the searchers.

I am grateful to be from a community where people rise to the occasion and offer help to a family in crisis. As for Bob, Jim, and me being the rescuers...I'm going to chalk that up to dumb luck.