Idaho man hospitalized after missing from car crash for hours

ALBION - An Idaho man was hospitalized Wednesday after reportedly going missing for several hours following a car crash.

Jeremy J. Rogers, 37, of Athol, was taken to Pullman Regional Hospital, according to a news release from the Whitman County Sheriff's Office. The hospital reported Wednesday evening that Rogers was treated and released.

Around 8 a.m. Wednesday, a vehicle was reported in a ditch along Old Albion Road between Albion and U.S. Highway 195, according to the news release. No one was found in the vehicle when sheriff's deputies arrived, but the cellphone number of the car's owner was located. The vehicle's owner said Rogers, her brother, had been driving the car, and she provided a phone number for him.

When contacted, Rogers reportedly said he had crashed the car Tuesday night and had been walking since. He could not provide a description of his location, and the cellphone signal was lost.

Sheriff's deputies, Pullman police, local firefighters, Washington State Patrol and Life Flight initiated a search for Rogers. Albion and rural Pullman firefighters reportedly found Rogers around 12:30 p.m. Wednesday after using snowmobiles to follow his footprints in the snow. He was taken to the hospital for exposure to the cold.

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Embree may be contacted at cembree@lmtribune.com or (208) 669-1298. Follow her on Twitter @chelseaembree.