Search Continues for Family Missing Since Sunday, 12/8/13 in Snow & Cold in Northwest Nevada: James Glanton, 34, Christina MacIntee, 25, His Two Children Evan Glanton & Chloe Glanton, and MacIntee’s Niece and Nephew, Shelby Fitzpatrick & Tate McIntee (Update: All Found Alive & Safe)

The race is on against snow and cold temperatures to find a family of six who are missing in the Northwest mountains of Nevada.

Rescue teams racing against the clock and the bitter cold to find 34 year old James Glanton, his girlfriend 25 year old Christina McIntee, his two children, Evan Glanton and Chloe Glanton, and Christina’s niece and nephew,  Shelby Fitzpatrick and Tate McIntee. The four missing children are ages, a 10 year old, two 4 year olds and a 3 year old. The six disappeared in the Seven Troughs mountain range on a snow outing to play in the snow.

The family has not had any communication with others since they went missing, according to Sheila Reitz of the sheriff’s office.

They went to the Seven Troughs area on isolated federal land about noon on Sunday in a silver Jeep with a black top, authorities said. It was unclear what supplies they might have been carrying.

“I’m hoping they all huddled together and stayed in the Jeep,” said Nevada Highway Patrol Trooper Chuck Allen, who added that the area has spotty cellular coverage. “That would be a best-case scenario.”

CNN:

Frigid weather gripping much of the United States led to a frenzied search in northwest Nevada, where rescue teams are searching a mountainous area for two adults and four children who went to play in the snow and never returned.

James Glanton, 34, and Christina MacIntee, 25, are missing, along with Glanton’s two children and MacIntee’s niece and nephew. The children are 3 to 10 years old, the Pershing County Sheriff’s Office said.

The group set out Sunday for Seven Troughs mountain range and haven’t been seen since.

Fears intensified as the temperature plummeted to below zero.

Amanda Fitzpatrick, mother of 10-year-old Shelby Fitzpatrick, has joined the search in the freezing cold.

“It’s been extremely hard, probably the hardest 24 to 36 hours of my life,” she told CNN’s Piers Morgan. “It’s my baby girl.”

UPDATE I: Extreme cold raises concerns for missing family in Nevada.

Temperatures in storm-stricken parts of the country were expected to remain 10- to 20 degrees below normal for the remainder of the week, the National Weather Service said.

Overnight temperatures in Lovelock, Nev., near the mountain range were below zero, WeatherUnderground.com indicated.

UPDATE II: FANTASTIC NEWS OUT OF NEVADA … CNN is reporting that all six missing family members have been found alive and well!!!

A family of six survived two days in wintry Nevada mountains by starting a fire and then bringing warm rocks into their overturned Jeep, preventing frostbite to the couple and four small children, local residents said Tuesday.

When three residents finally found the family and their vehicle during a massive search, the family had little food left, so resident Salvador Paredes pulled a candy bar from his pocket and shared it with them, Paredes said.

The group was found safe in an area called Trinity Canyon, according to the Pershing County Sheriff’s Office. They were discovered from a distance by a volunteer searcher using binoculars to scan mountainsides, the sheriff’s office said. It wasn’t immediately clear which of the three residents made the discovery.

All six were in stable condition with “no frostbite, just some exposure issues,” said Patty Bianchi, CEO of Pershing General Hospital. The family consists of a man and woman who have two children together; the woman also was traveling with her nephew and niece, the sheriff’s office said.

UPDATE III: 6 missing adults, children found alive in Nevada.

“Their father kept them alive and well,” said Patty Bianchi, CEO of Pershing General Hospital, where the six were taken. “Everybody is in good shape. There was no frostbite. They are stable. They suffered a little exposure and dehydration, but that is all.”

About 100 well-wishers lined the street outside the hospital and broke into cheers when two of the smallest children were taken from an ambulance. The others walked into the hospital on their own.

“The mood where I’m at’s ecstatic,” said Col. Tim Hahn of the Civil Air Patrol, which used several planes to search for the group. “We are thrilled beyond words.”