On the evening of September 8, Wolfe County Search & Rescue was requested to assist with a search for a missing fisherman who had failed to return from a fishing outing with a friend the previous evening.
The two individuals had hiked to a remote area upstream from Cave Run Lake to fish. One individual was able to make it back out, but the second fisherman did not return.
A small team from Wolfe County Search & Rescue was dispatched Tuesday evening in an attempt to establish verbal contact with the missing individual. Members of the Menifee County Fire Department & Menifee County Sheriffs Office also assisted by using a drone to search nearby areas. Unfortunately, these initial efforts were unsuccessful.
Due to the size and rugged terrain of the search area, the Kentucky State Police Aircraft Support Branch conducted an aerial search this morning. Ground search teams from Wolfe County SAR and Powell County SAR were placed on standby to assist with the evacuation once the individual was located.
We were very fortunate that KSP Aviation located the missing fisherman and provided a set of coordinates to Incident Command. A boat team then deployed from up river to gain access to his location. The fisherman was successfully reached, transported out of the area and turned over to EMS for further evaluation.
This was a large and challenging area to search, and it required multiple agencies and disciplines working together to bring this mission to a successful conclusion.
Wolfe County Search & Rescue would like to thank all of our partners who assisted with this operation:
• Kentucky State Police – Aircraft Support Branch
• Menifee County Fire Protection District & EMS
• Menifee County Sheriff’s Office
• Kentucky Fish and Wildlife Law Enforcement
• Powell County Search & Rescue
• Bath County Fire Department – standby support
We are grateful for the cooperation and professionalism of every agency involved. When a call for help comes in, it takes all of us working together to bring our neighbors home.
Most importantly, we are thankful this mission ended with the missing fisherman being located and safely reunited with his family.
