Rescued snowbound couple arrested

PORTLAND – A couple wanted on drug charges after their rescue from the mountains of southwest Oregon were arrested Tuesday in Washington, authorities said.

Elbert and Becky Higginbotham were stopped without incident near the coastal city of Long Beach, Wash., according to the Pacific County Sheriff’s Department, which said it acted on a tip from an off-duty state parks ranger.

The ranger spotted Elbert Higginbotham, 55, and his wife, Becky, 44, on Tuesday afternoon in the same beige motor home in which the two spent 17 snowbound days this month, along with four of their relatives.

The two have been booked into the Pacific County Jail in South Bend, Wash., where they are awaiting extradition to Arizona on felony drug warrants.

Their March 21 rescue attracted national attention.

But the joy of the rescue quickly turned sour when Arizona authorities recognized the Higginbothams as a couple that had been caught with methamphetamine and a shotgun.

The two later reneged on a promise to cooperate with investigators and disappeared.

Navajo County Sheriff Gary Butler said the couple likely faced probation on the drug charges but could spend time in jail for felony flight.

The Higginbothams came to Oregon to visit Becky Higginbotham’s son and family in Ashland. Planning a weekend trip to the Oregon Coast, they left on March 4 but got lost on the back roads of the Coast Range and got stuck in the snow.

Eventually, Becky Higginbotham’s son, Peter Stivers, and his wife, Marlo Hill-Stivers, decided to hike out of the mountains for help, which led to the rest of their family’s rescue.