Mom Who Left Handwritten Notes for Rescuers Feared She Would Die in Wilderness With Son

What was supposed to be a simple drive turned into a life-or-death struggle through the Northern California wilderness for Tami Laird and her 9-year-old son, Stirling.

“I would start to cry and then try not to, because I didn’t want to upset my son. There was this fear of not being found,” Laird tells TODAY.com in an interview.

Tami Laird and her 9-year-old son, Stirling. (Courtesy Tami Laird)

On July 11, while making their way to a Cub Scout camp in the Sierra Nevada Mountains, Laird took a wrong turn that led her onto a rough dirt road. Trusting the GPS, and reassured by the scout leader’s earlier caution that the final stretch might be tricky, she pressed forward without concern.

But then the terrain “started getting steeper and steeper and bumpier and bumpier,” Laird recalled. Her navigation system indicated she was eight miles from her destination — a troubling sign, since the campsite was only a mile and a half from the highway she had come from. That’s when she realized something was wrong.

Laird attempted to retrace her path back to the main road, but couldn’t find her way. Soon after, her Nissan Sentra got stuck.

She and Stirling were stranded in the middle of nowhere, without a working car or cell service.

California mom Tami Laird and son Stirling, 9, were stranded overnight after getting stuck on a dirt road in the mountains. (Courtesy Tami Laird)

She knew she had to stay calm for Stirling's sake, but with no way to contact the outside world, it wasn't easy. In a Facebook post, Laird called it "one of the scariest weekends I have ever had."

During the 24 hours they were lost, she attempted to call 911 eighteen times. She added that she was “very impressed” with Stirling, a fourth grader, for staying calm throughout the ordeal.

“He had his Cub Scout whistle, and he was blowing it repeatedly,” she says.

Recognizing the potential dangers of the area, which is home to black bears, mountain lions and bobcats, Laird decided to stay locked inside the car overnight. Fortunately, Laird had packed food, water and camping supplies, including scissors and duct tape.

The mosquitoes were relentless, so they kept the windows rolled up despite the sweltering heat. Stirling drifted off to sleep after watching a movie he’d preloaded on his iPad, no Wi-Fi needed. Laird, who was too anxious to eat, stayed awake, staring up at the night sky with her stomach in knots.

“I think I fell asleep for a little bit, but I literally watched the moon shift from the left side of my car all the way to the right,” she says.

She said the thought they could die out there crossed her mind: "I did think about that briefly. How could I not? I just had to push it out of my mind.”

“I’m not at all religious,” Laird adds. “But I did pray.”

By morning, she devised a plan to help rescuers find them: They set off on foot at 6 a.m. and left a trail of notes, each weighed down by rocks, marking their path. Laird made sure they both stayed hydrated and insisted on taking breaks in the shade.

“HELP. Me and my son are stranded with no service and we can’t call 911,” read one of the letters. “We are ahead, up the road to the right. Please call 911 to get help for us. Thank you!”

Tami Laird and son Stirling used handwritten notes to lead rescuers to their location. (Courtesy Tami Laird)

Laird knew that when they didn’t return home, her fiancé would contact authorities. She cut up a bedsheet and left a note on the car explaining that she would be leaving strips of the fabric behind, starting from the vehicle, to guide searchers to their location — and to guide them back.

“I tied pieces to trees,” Laird says. “I was also afraid we might lose the car and be left without a safe place to sleep if we ended up stuck another night.”

But Laird’s survival instincts paid off.

Sitting by a creek at 5:40 p.m., they heard an unfamiliar noise. As the sound grew closer, they realized it was a truck approaching, and tears began to stream down Laird's cheeks.

“The longer you’re out there, the more discouraged you get,” she says. “We were just so relieved.”

Laird grabbed Sterling's hand and they took off running toward the truck.

She later learned that her handwritten notes led rescuers to her. That particular road hadn’t even been part of their original search plan, she says, “because they knew the car I was driving couldn’t navigate it.”

In a Facebook post, the Calaveras County Sheriff’s Office praised Laird’s presence of mind and preparation, noting that planning, communication and basic survival techniques played a critical role in the rescue. It also noted that Laird informing someone ahead of time where they were going ,and when they planned to return, was a key part of their survival.

“Looking back now, I just think about how fortunate we are that everything turned out that way it did,” Laird tells TODAY.