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Show 'S'ksm w- -- W JL T? SOUTHERN UTAH NEWS WEDNESDAY SEPTEMBER 1. 1993 ATTUTPP JvJCi rjil -- f 111 g JL V Dewey Crofts, always ready to roll Can you roll? We have a plane office and sit on By Barbara Pyles Deward Dewey Kropf was our butts until born April 23, 1 921 . He grew up they made up in a large family in South Jordan, UT. Kropf remembers his childhood and teenage years as some of the happiest of his life. After serving in World War II, he returned home to settle down. While living in South Jordan, he was a member of the Alert of Utah Search & Rescue. Kropf their down. Ready to roll. This call came from Maple Canyon south of Provo. It took rescuers eight hours to hike to the site. Would he find them alive? Kropf wasnt sure. A mother and two children died, says Kropf. After a rescue, especially when there are no survivors, it bugs me for a while, but somebody has to do it. Another call came in. There was an avalanche in Big Cotton-Woo- d Canyon. We went up and probed with biglong sticks. I felt something. We drove a stick into the snow and pumped in air. Then, we dug down and got her out, but her companion died. About hi s many rescues Kropf minds where they were going to put us. We rolled. At times we were at the scene before the sheriff got there. Kropf went willingly and at has helped rescue children, adults and even his own niece. his own exSome he found alive, others he pense. And he didnt. When Kropf responded was He to a call, he never knew what situation he was going to find had a truck, a himself in. camper fitted It began in 1965 when he was with a citizens pheasant hunting and saw a band radio, and United Airlines Boeing 727 Jet- an liner burn at the Salt Lake City vehicle that he Airport. I can still see that plane towed on a comingin. It looked like the back trailer behind end of the plane was on fire. It his truck. He alcame in from the East and made ways carried the circle, says Kropf. It was walkie talkies, too low, too short of the runway. camping equipThe plane hit the asphalt, then ment, and surhit the concrete and shred off vival supplies. the wheel. The wing broke and He also carried well-equippe- d. all-terra- she caught died. fire-forty-o- ne people in says,Wejustgoin andgetthem. dont care if we ever see them again. We just help. In 1974 Kropf searched for Debra Kent. The teenager disappeared from the Viewmont High School parking lot, and it was believed Theodore Bundy had murdered her. I have covered over 17 thousand acres, walking and ground searching for her. I searched remote mounWe a rifle; cougars inhabited the tain areas. After that incident, Kropf high country. Can started helping people. He conyou tinued to work at the Veterans roll? and to Hospital, but on week-end- s Ready his days off, he searched for missing people. Kropf seemed to have an instinct for finding the missing. Can you roll? Came the message. Ready to roll , was al way s hi s response. This is how it worked, says Kropf. If we had our set on, it would beep. We would pick up the phone and call our commander. He would tell us where to go. We didnt go to the sheriff s roll. A plane was Crofts with a photo album of some of his rescues. Photo by Barbar Pyles. Dewey down. Kropf went to Evanston WY. and told them who he was. The next morning, he took his snow cat and started to break the trail. When the snow cat started to sink, he went in on snow shoes. In the isolation of the mountain, Kropf struggled uphill. His heart raced wildly and he worried he might not find the plane in time. Suddenly, he spotted the the door open and plane. got in, says Kropf. The man, woman and little boy were dead in their seats. Then, unexpectedly he heard the sounds of a child. He moved boxes and luggage and found a girl. She threw her arms around me. I said, Im here to take you home. All he could think of was to take care of the little girl and to get her out. He carried the child, in his backpack, do wn th e mountain to the snow cat. She didnt want to leave her daddy, mama and brother, says Kropf. When I got her back down, she wouldnt have anything to do with anybody. She screamed and wrapped h erselfaround me. I went to Rock Springs, and I stayed with her while they examined her, he says. Help get my mama and daddy down from the mountains, cried the child. I toldher that was what I was going to do, says Kropf. Her grandmother knelt down and she went from me to her. The child didnt know her parents were dead. Kropf said that he felt needed. We have a missing child. Can you roll? Ready to roll. I pried four-year-o- ld The call came from near Ante- I went through wrecked cars, caves, under highways, and mine shafts. says Kropf. I am still searching. Kropf said he search ed for Debra because she was such a pretty girl and always helping others, andbecause her parents wanted to bury her. The police have at the command post, Kropf and closed the case, but I havent others started searching. They closed my mind to what they found a shoe and the place the found. He recalled a sad case. A childhad slept. Kropf wasaware ofthe possibility that they would twenty-onyear old girl disapnot find the boy. Then, the men peared from a service station. found the boy. Hes alive! Hes He went to the family and told them what okay, shouted Kropf into the radio. I was supposed to do. Her little When the search party re- boy put his arms around me and turned a lady rushed up and said, mister find my mom, kissed him. A man reached into says Kropf. Tears started comhis wallet and asked Kropf how ing down and I told him wed do much he wanted. It touched my our best. He is grown and we heart and said right here makes still havent found her. me feel better than all the money Kropf rests for a moment and wallet. in Kropf than continues. The worse you have your says it makes him feel good when ground search... he rubs his lope Springs. After checking in e intro-ducedhimsel- f.I he finds people alive. But not all rescues h ave h appy endings. He remembers being called to look for some men near Tooele. Kropf says they found them two days later. The men had drowned in the Great Salt Lake. Again the call came, Kropf was ready to roll. His niece, her husband and their two boys were missing on Utah Lake. I went down in my pickup. I came across the boy floating in the lake, says Kropf. Later, the searches found seat belts, lifejackets, and fishing poles. It was 11 days 'before- they found my Itietb.- - eyes. A group of girls were hiking down a mountain and one girl stopped to tieher shoe. When she looked up everyone was gone, he says. Instead of turning right to take the trail, she went in the opposite direction and...she wentover the cliff. She got lodged between rocks and died there. Time and time again, Kropf has searched for the missing. Each time the call came for Dewey Kropf, he always answered: Ready to roll. Thanks Dewey, many people over the years have appreciated you |