Today Marks The 5th Anniversary Of The Michigan Snack Food Miracle

On this day in 2015, two sisters were found on a snow bound two track trail in the Upper Peninsula. They were saved by snack food.

When Lee Marie Wright and Leslie Roy went missing in April of 2015, the worst was feared. The two had not been heard from for eleven days, and all relatives knew was that their plans included a trip to Tahquamenon Falls, and they had failed to check into the Mackinaw City hotel where they had reserved a room.

It turns out that, Roy, who is from Nebraska, and Wright, who was from Oklahoma, had decided to take their SUV up a dirt road leading to the Crisp Point Lighthouse, oblivious to the fact that the snow that had begun to fall was a spring snow storm that would dump a foot of wet, heavy snow on the trail.

The ladies were soon mired in the slick snow, unable to get traction. Attempts to get emergency help were stymied by the lack of cell service in the back woods, so the ladies decided it was best to wait it out, as walking through the mud and snow proved fruitless.

It turns out they made the right choice staying by their vehicle.

An air search ordered by the State Police caught the glimmer of sun shining off their SUV, and rescuers stormed the Lake Superior beach near the lighthouse and began a 25 minute slog through the snow to their vehicle.

The women had done everything right. in addition to staying with their car, they had layered clothing on, melted snow to stay hydrated, and most importantly, rationed out the only food they had -- two boxes of Girl Scout cookies and some cheese puffs.

Yes, the ladies lived because of snack food. A MIRACLE!!

Detective Sgt. Jeff Marker with the Michigan State Police told The Grand Rapids Press that the sisters’ survival after being stranded for 13 days in the woods with only cheese puffs, cookies and snow, “unbelievably remarkable.”

Marker described the moment of the sisters’ rescue from the Michigan woods to The Grand Rapids Press. He said that when his group of four from the police helicopter reached their location after a 25-minute hike, “[the sisters] grabbed their purses.” Wright also “clutched onto her Bible and both women were very happy.” When rescued, both women were in good condition, although weak.

Later that year, the sisters returned to Luce County to thank rescuers and to finally make it out to the lighthouse.

“It was uplifting to finally get to the lighthouse,” Roy told the Marquette Mining Journal. “It was beautiful.”

The incident was later memorialized with this sign, place along County Road 402, the trail to Crisp Point, in Luce County.