BOZEMAN — The worst possible circumstances came together Saturday night and led to the death of beloved Gallatin County Sheriff's Deputy Jake Allmendinger.
Allmendinger and Deputy Ryan Jern were headed up Fairy Lake Road to rescue a man who said he’d been stranded there for several days.
A woman who called 911 about the stranded man said the roads were extremely icy.
Allmendinger and Jern were about 5 miles up Fairy Lake Road when their vehicle began to slide backwards on the icy roads.
The Sheriff’s Office says Allmendinger got out of the car as it was sliding, and was pinned under the Chevy Tahoe.
We’ve also learned four different helicopters tried to make it into the scene to rescue Deputy Allmendinger, but the weather was so bad each one had to abort.
The man who was stranded had been camping in the area and got stuck. Gallatin County Search and Rescue picked up the man. He was not injured.
The Sheriff’s Office says there is no ongoing investigation of the incident, and that there were no violations of protocol or policy from Saturday evening.
