Missing hunter tracked down with phone tracing technology, South Carolina DNR says
Phone tracking technology was used to find a hunter who went missing earlier this month, according to the South Carolina Department of Natural Resources.
On Jan. 1, SCDNR officers responded to a call about a missing man, officials said Tuesday in a news release.
Family members told SCDNR officers that the man, who has a medical condition, planned to hunt with dogs on his family’s property near the border of Bamberg and Orangeburg counties, according to the release. Information on the medical condition was not available.
When his family tried to call him, the man didn’t answer and they weren’t able to locate his truck in the area where he was supposed to be hunting, SCDNR said.
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In an effort to locate the missing man, investigators used “telecommunications technology that the agency first began using several years ago and that they can access during emergency circumstances,” SCDNR said. The name of the technology wasn’t shared in the release.
Within minutes, SCDNR officers pinged the man’s phone and pinpointed his location within 50 feet, which was about 5 miles from where the man had said he would be hunting, according to the release.
The officers gave the location to the man’s son who found his father, SCDNR said. The missing hunter was unresponsive and lying beside his truck on an unfamiliar property, according to the release.
There was no word how the hunter wound up so far from his planned destination.
His son told officers that when the missing hunter regained consciousness, he was disoriented and confused, SCDNR said.
In addition to the son, paramedics responded to the scene and the man was taken to a hospital for “urgent medical treatment,” according to the release. Further information on the hunter’s condition was not available.
“This is a great example of game wardens doing life-saving work in their communities with the aid of technology,” said Col. Chisolm Frampton, head of SCDNR’s law enforcement division.
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This story was originally published January 17, 2023 at 1:43 PM.
