If this information of his getting lost at 2am at service road is accurate - then let's reconstruct the timeline - Hwy 23 is rougly an hour South of Hwy 42. It would mean that by the time he approached Hwy 42 exit, it would have been passed MIDNIGHT already. And he intended to drive over to the Coastal area in the middle of the night, in poor weather condition, with a wife and 2 very young kids on the car?!
In situation like that, even you have a reservation at the Coast area, you would just forfeit it and look for accommodation either on I-5 or at towns at the intersections and spend the night, instead of pushing forward. A few miles South of Hwy 23 intersection on I-5 is the town Grant Pass - they should get there to find a place to spend the night. Grant Pass should be a good size town as that is where the wife and kids being sent to hospital.
I could not help but wonder, what the hell was he thinking? and what the hell was his wife thinking? Didn't they ever think of the safety of their children?
You dont even drive such secondary road like hwy 23, in a Summer night, let alone in the middle of Winter. This is downright *&^@#!
The area they wound up at was so remote, that it took the repositioning of a satellite in order to take better pictures - otherwise their car may not even be spotted from the Satellite pictures. It was one of the 3 PRIVATE choppers hired by his father that found the car. At least he had a rich father who could spare nothing to mount a rescue effort...
It is all very sad, but it boils down to:
Ignorance and stupidity kill. Money talks.