By Jason Emerson
A 75-year-old Fenner man, who was stranded in the woods overnight last weekend, was found and rescued from a waist-high mud pit after a massive multi-agency and volunteer search effort spent 12 hours looking for him.
According to the Madison County Sheriff’s Office, the man was reported missing from his home at about 9 p.m. on Saturday, June 23. The man’s daughter told the 911 call center that her father had walked into a wooded area next to his residence and had not returned. The woods contain a swampy area with a deep flowing creek.
According to law enforcement officials, the man was reported as being deaf and suffering from several medical conditions including dementia, Parkinson’s Disease and asthma.
Madison County Sheriff’s Office deputies, New York State Police K9 units and members of the Cazenovia Fire Department responded to the scene and began a search of the area for the missing man. Members of the New York State Forest Rangers; Madison, Onondaga and Oswego County search and rescue teams; Onondaga County Sheriff’s Office Air One helicopter; Madison County Emergency Management; Cazenovia Area Volunteer Ambulance Corps (CAVAC) and community volunteers and neighbors assisted in the search, which continued into the next morning.
At approximately 9 a.m. on June 24, two Madison County Sheriff’s deputies conducting a search of buildings and structures on Nelson and Moraine roads located the missing subject, according to the state Department of Environmental Conservation Environmental Conservation Police Office. The man was stranded in hip-high water, mud and dense vegetation in the forest just behind a trailer park, approximately one-half mile from his residence. He was conscious but confused.
Fire department personnel helped the man out of the mud and carried him out to a waiting local ambulance. He was transported to the hospital in Syracuse for further medical evaluation.
