BURLEY — A Cassia County sheriff’s deputy’s honed intuition and concern saved the life of a Virginia man stranded for 15 hours in frigid weather, the man’s family said.

Cassia County Senior Patrolman Eric Nebeker was sent to the scene of a single-vehicle rollover that happened at 7:30 p.m. on Nov. 6 in a remote stretch of Interstate 84 near milepost 254. When he arrived the next morning it was hard to tell how long the gold Toyota Camry had been there and just what had happened to its driver.

Ralph E. Stine, 79, had been on a trip to see family in Washington and was driving from his home in Windsor, Va., only 10 days after having heart surgery, when he lost control of the car, which went over a cement barrier and landed on its top, 30 feet down a ravine.

“He could have gotten a ride with someone — we just didn’t know,” Nebeker said about the abandoned car.

However, Stine, who was wearing only a light sweater over two T-shirts, had crawled out the passenger’s door and wandered away from the car.

During his trip West, Stine had been involved in car crashes in Kansas and Utah before the rollover in Cassia County.

Nebeker said he and Idaho State Police Cpl. Larry Torrix searched around the car and found no trace of the driver. But, Nebeker said there was medication in the car that he felt someone would not leave behind.

“I had a feeling — something told me it just wasn’t right,” Nebeker said. “It worried me. If that were my grandfather or my father lying out there I would want someone to find him.”

Fifteen hours after the crash, Stine, who had been walking through water and waist-high grass and brush, was found about a mile from his car.

Nebeker was quick to credit the Malta Quick Response Unit, Torrix and Mini-Cassia Search and Rescue for helping locate Stine.

“I was as happy as could be when I heard Mark (Welch, commander of Mini-Cassia Search and Rescue) on the radio saying they needed an ambulance,” Nebeker said. “Because that meant he was alive.”

Nebeker said Stine was suffering from hypothermia and was immediately admitted into the Cassia County Memorial Hospital’s intensive care unit.

Stine’s son, Michael Stine of Clarkston, Wash., said the family owes their father’s life to Nebeker’s persistence and intuition.

“Eric Nebeker saved my father’s life,” Michael Stine said. “He tracked me down after the accident, made arrangements to gather up Dad’s stuff and visited him numerous times in the hospital because he knew his family couldn’t be there. I wish I could have met him. He is a credit to your city and sheriffs’ department.”

Cassia County Sheriff Randy Kidd said Nebeker is known as a very caring and conscientious officer and a great asset to the department.

“I don’t think I’ve ever met anyone who would go out of their way like that,” Michael Stine said. “People need to know what your department has there.”

Laurie Welch may be reached at lwelch@magicvalley.com or 208-677-8767.