GRANGEVILLE, Idaho — It was an emotional reunion for Greg and Danielle Commons when they found their friend, 24-year-old Zachary DeMoss near Eagle Mountain Trailhead.
DeMoss was on a motorcycle trip with two other friends when he went missing. He was missing for five days before the Commons found him.
“It was surreal,” Greg said. “It was surreal that we found him.”
Greg Commons said he and his wife immediately wanted to start searching for DeMoss when they heard he was missing. His son and DeMoss had gone to high school together, and were good friends.
After searching for a day in Montana, Greg Commons said he didn’t feel like that was the right place.
“Honestly I just looked at it from if I was up riding with my friends and we got separated – what would be the most logical thing we could do,” Greg said.
Once they got near Eagle Mountain Trailhead, Greg Commons said he didn’t think DeMoss would be there – because there were so many campers nearby. But, he was wrong.
“I come around the corner and I see this F-150 sitting in this pullout and out of the corner of my eye I see a guy laying by the river,” Greg said.
He said he immediately went down to where DeMoss was laying.
“Zach rolls over and he opens his eyes, and he say ‘Hey man I have been in a wreck,’” Greg said. “I just thought there’s no way we just found him.”
After Greg found DeMoss, he hit an SOS button on his Garmin Inreach device. The device runs on satellite, he said, so he was able to use it without service.
Law enforcement showed up just moments later. Now, DeMoss is in the hospital with “a long road ahead.”
“Zach was tough enough to hold out for five days on that mountain while he saw people walking by,” Greg said. “He tried to holler at them and they didn’t hear.”
DeMoss’s mother started a GoFund me to help with medical bills, and she also said people can send DeMoss notes and inspiration at P.O. Box 15 Somers MT 59932.