Sweetgrass Agents Locate Stranded Worker

Havre, Montana — U.S. Border Patrol Agents from the Havre Sector assisted the Toole County Sheriff’s Department in locating an oilfield worker who had been missing for three hours.

Agents from the Sweetgrass station responded to a call from the Toole County Sheriff’s Department Monday requesting assistance in locating a missing individual near Oilmont, MT. The worker had notified the Sheriff’s Office earlier in the day that he would be checking an oil well in a remote area, and he would contact them upon completion. When he was overdue to have returned, a search was initiated.

While assisting the Toole County Deputies with their search, an agent was able to locate the worker walking across a field approximately one mile from his vehicle. His vehicle had become stuck in a snow bank and he decided to abandon it and walk for help. The nearest residence is several miles away and the temperature in the area was hovering near -5 degrees, with wind chills in the -30 range. Due to the severe winter weather conditions, the worker was at a high risk for hypothermia and frostbite. Within minutes of locating the man, the Border Patrol agent had transported the worker to an awaiting Sheriff’s Deputy.

“Coordinated efforts like these between the Border Patrol and the Toole County Sheriff’s Department are helping to keep our communities, and residents, safe,” said Chief Patrol Agent Brenna Neinast, “Working together with the Toole County Deputies, we were able to locate this individual and get him to safety before the situation was able to become critical.”

U.S. Customs and Border Protection is the unified border agency within the Department of Homeland Security charged with the management, control and protection of our nation's borders at and between the official ports of entry. CBP is charged with keeping terrorists and terrorist weapons out of the country while enforcing hundreds of U.S. laws.