03/26/2006

Associated Press

Arizona authorities are deciding whether to seek extradition on drug charges of two members of a family that survived 17 days trapped in the snowy mountains of Southern Oregon. But Jackson County Sheriff Mike Winters suffers no such quandary.

"We don't need any additional meth folks here," he said. "If they are wanted on meth charges, we may be willing to help."

Elbert Higginbotham, 54, and his wife Becky had warrants issued for them in Navajo County, Ariz., in April 2005 but they were not arrested because they said they would cooperate with authorities.

But the couple disappeared, and Arizona authorities didn't know where they were until Wednesday after they showed up among the six family members rescued after their ordeal in the mountains.

Arrest warrants were issued Wednesday but they aren't valid outside the state unless Arizona requests their arrest.

It may not.

County officials say Navajo County is rural, poor and selective about whom to extradite, given the cost. The two are charged with a small amount of the drug — about one 15th of an ounce. Elbert Higginbotham also faces a weapons charge.

Higginbotham has claimed he and his wife were framed on the drug charges.

Winters said it would cost about $1,000 to extradite the two, but his office said Saturday it had received no request to do so.

"It depends on how badly they want them back," he said.

Winters said there is a state shuttle system that could get the couple to California, and that a California shuttle could take them to Navajo County.

Ashland Police Sgt. Jim Aldridge said on Friday that the alleged offense is a small one and, increasingly, is considered a social crime. He said it was magnified by the dramatic tale of the family's ordeal and safe rescue.

Six members of the family were stuck in Higginbotham's 35-foot motor home after trying to cross the Oregon Coast Range on what they thought would be a shortcut for a weekend trip to the Oregon Coast.

The Higginbothams were accompanied by Pete Stivers, 29, his wife Marlo Hill-Stivers, 31, and their two young children, all of Ashland.

The Higginbothams are Pete Stivers' mother and stepfather, but Stivers had been raised mostly by a grandparent and family members said he and his wife did not know the Higginbothams well.

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Information from: The Ashland Daily Tidings, http://www.dailytidings.com