He didn’t have Asperger’s Syndrome. He didn’t have traumatic brain injury. He wasn’t exactly missing. Now, the man the Sheriff’s Office spent hours upon hours searching for in the area of the Oslo Boat Ramp Wednesday is in jail, as is the woman who cried for help in searching for him.
Major Eric Flowers, the Sheriff’s Office spokesman, told VeroNews.com Thursday morning that both the woman and the man were arrested following the search. The man has outstanding arrest warrants from Michigan.
Authorities were still in the process of booking Shane Bernard, 29, Thursday morning. The woman who called for help was booked overnight and identified as Megan Nicole Gorney, 23, of Michigan.
According to Major Flowers, Gorney was caught up in the mangroves between the boat ramp and the nearby neighborhood when she started calling for help. Neighbors heard her and called authorities. Deputies were able to locate her and get her out of the mangroves.
She was medically cleared and was returned to her vehicle at the boat ramp. She asked deputies where her boyfriend was. Gorney then told deputies that her boyfriend “Chase Clark” has Asperger’s Syndrome and traumatic brain injury and is prone to running away. That’s how she came to be in the mangroves, she was chasing after him.
“We began our search,” Major Flowers. Believing the young man was in trouble, the Sheriff’s Office deployed the helicopter and several drones, as well as tapped a number of personnel to aid in the search.
They could hear him every so often while searching but were unable to reach him.
As the search progressed, Major Flowers said they became concerned about his well-being. “We’ve got to find this guy,” he told VeroNews.com.
Around 7 p.m., approximately 7 or 8 hours after her initially plea for help, Gorney told authorities that she and her boyfriend had been at the boat ramp smoking crack, which made “Chase” paranoid and prompted him to flee. An hour and a half later, she told authorities that Chase is actually Shane Bernard. A name check in the system showed he has warrants out of Michigan.
Major Flowers said authorities arrested Gorney at that point. She is booked into the county jail on a misdemeanor charge of providing false information to law enforcement.
Bernard was later apprehended Thursday morning as he came out of the woods near the new Lawnwood E.R. on U.S. 1.
Major Flowers said the Sheriff’s Office is working to determine the cost of the search effort – the helicopter, drones, man-hours – and will present that to the court for reimbursement from Gorney and Bernard.