INDIAN RIVER COUNTY — A 47-year-old Vero Beach man was found safe deep in the woods of the Ft. Drum water management area Monday night after his mother called authorities fearing her son wouldn’t make it home.
“We are happy to report that because of the teamwork by our Agriculture, Canine, and Aviation Units, along with assistance from the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, we were able to successfully locate Mr. Bowles,” said Sheriff Deryl Loar. “The special operations units are critical to our mission here at the Sheriff’s Office. These teams are responsible for finding so many missing hikers, Alzheimer’s patients, and autistic children each year.”
He had called her around 5 p.m. on his cell, which had a very low battery, to tell her he had become lost.
Shortly before 8 p.m., Brian Bowles’s mother called the Sheriff’s Office to report him missing, which prompted the department to respond to the Fort Drum water management area with a K-9 unit, ATVs, and the Sheriff’s helicopter to search.
Authorities pinged Bowles’s cell phone, which narrowed their search area to a location one mile into the woods between the Fort Drum and the Florida Turnpike.
About an hour and a half, the helicopter’s crew spotted Bowles, who directed ground crews to the man.
Bowles was treated for heat exposure and dehydration, but suffered no injuries, the Sheriff’s Office said.
