The rescue of an Ohio man who was missing in Kentucky's Red River Gorge for two weeks is being called miraculous. Scott Hern of Ironton traveled about two hours to the gorge, located in the Daniel Boone National Forest, to look for waterfalls on July 6, the Ironton Tribune reports. He was found Saturday—which was to be the final day of the search and rescue mission, the BBC reports. The 48-year-old hadn't told anyone where he was going, and by July 8, he was "essentially out of food and water," says Wolfe County's search and rescue chief, per WSAZ.
His family hadn't heard from him since July 4, and reported him missing on July 6 when they couldn't reach him. Searchers zeroed in on the area where he was found after family members found a diary describing searches for waterfalls in the Kentucky forest, and his car was found at a trail in the area July 13. Teams were crawling through brush in "the roughest terrain you could imagine," per one rescuer, when they saw footprints in the mud and then heard someone faintly calling for help as they called out Hern's name. When he was found safe, that rescuer says, Hern asked for a hug. He was dehydrated and scratched, but otherwise unharmed, and is currently recovering. (More Red River Gorge stories.)
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