Multi-county rescue effort comes together to find missing hunter

Katherine Davis  |  November 6, 2025

Representatives from 16 agencies across seven counties came together on Oct. 27 to help locate a missing person in Oglethorpe County.

Oglethorpe, Elbert, Wilkes, Greene, Madison, Clarke and Jackson counties, as well as statewide agencies such as the Georgia Department of Natural Resources and the Georgia Forestry Commission contributed to the effort.

“It’s pretty amazing how many people will come and help when you ask for help,” Oglethorpe County EMS director and Monday’s incident commander Josh Robinson said.

The 73-year-old man left his house to go hunting around 1 p.m. Oct. 26, and when he still had not returned home the next morning, his wife called 911.

When EMS didn’t find him in the immediate area where he was known to be hunting, they decided they needed more help. After an initial search of the area, K-9 units from Oglethorpe and Athens-Clarke counties were able to pinpoint a general area. 

Robinson put out a message, and the other agencies responded, bringing numbers, warming stations, ATVs and additional communication tools, such as radios and Wi-Fi signals, since the search area did not have cell service.

Robinson said the rain and the cold was a major challenge, making roads muddy. The highest temperature recorded that day was 51 degrees, and it rained more than an inch.

Oglethorpe County CERT brought its trailer that contained tents, tables and water for incident command. The materials that were brought by CERT and other counties allowed warming stations to be set up.

“To continue to search, you have to take a break,” said Sim Hogan, chairperson of Oglethorpe County CERT. “Having a hot coffee in addition to that is very welcome when you’ve been outside in the cold rain for three or four hours.”

Jackson County had a drone that could fly in inclement weather, but Oglethorpe County had to wait until the rain let up to use their drone.

“The weather always makes it challenging because you also had gusty winds, so you know it eats your battery life down,” Robinson said about the county’s drones. “But it performed as we expected it to.”

Ground teams began searching around noon, and at 4:49 p.m., they heard three consecutive gunshots, an internationally recognized distress signal. After confirming that none of the searchers fired the shots, ground teams closed in on the area and located the man at 5:19 p.m., more than 24 hours after he left his house.

Robinson said the man was hypothermic and dehydrated, but there was a large sense of relief when he was found.

“That he was found alive and well, that’s your main end goal,” Robinson said. “And that was a good relief, knowing that you could pack up, get home, sleep well, knowing that he was safe.”

Hogan agreed.

“It is the outcome that everybody hopes for, but when it actually happens is just a tremendous relief,” he said.

Robinson received a call from the missing man’s son the next day.

“It just impresses on people just that there are still folks out there who want to help and do good and everybody came out there like it was their own parent or child missing,” Robinson said.

Robinson said relationships between emergency responders and other counties are important.

“You would not be able to do what we did without them. It just becomes a point where you just need help and they’re so important,” Robinson said. “These counties and agencies know all they have to do is ask and we’ll be there with whatever we can provide.”