On June 27, 2024 at 1057 hours (10:57 a.m.), the Lake County Sheriff’s Office received a request to search for a lost party off the Fernberg Rd near the area of Moose and Snowbank Lakes. The daughter (reporting party) of the 77-year-old male from Georgia believed he could have hiked onto a trail looking for flowers. A friend of the missing male located his vehicle at the Blackstone Hiking trailhead.
At the request of the investigating Deputy, Morse-Fall Lake Rescue was called out to assist in a search of the trail system and surrounding area.
After the male was not located during the initial search of the immediate area around the trail system, more search personnel were requested, and both Lake County Search and Rescue and St. Louis County Search and Rescue were requested.
The USFS Beaver was requested to provide an aerial search of the surrounding area. After an extensive air search and expanded ground search, the Beaver advised rescuers that they observed a male waving his arms, at which time they were able to land and due to the high-water, taxi to where the male party was located.
The pilot and observer were able to confirm that this was the missing party and taxied the plane to a location where rescuers were waiting to transport the male party by ground to a staged ambulance. The male was very dehydrated and weak and was transported to an area hospital for evaluation.
The Lake County Sheriff’s Office would like to thank the following for their assistance in this successful search:
Morse-Fall Lake Rescue, St. Louis County Search and Rescue, US Forest Service, Minnesota DNR, Lake County Search and Rescue, and the Northern Tier Boy Scouts, who provided meals to the search and rescue members.
No additional information is available at this time.
