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UPDATED: Search Continues Near Edgewater For Missing Hunter
Date Added: April 29, 2017 8:15 am
Gary Davidson
Public Information Office
Final update: 3:50 p.m.
John Schilling was suffering from dehydration but he's conscious, alert and in otherwise good condition. He was transported to Florida Hospital New Smyrna as a precaution.
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UPDATE: 3:00 p.m.
The missing hunter, 65-year-old John Schilling, has been recovered. He's being medically evaluated; additional information to follow as it becomes available.
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SEARCH CONTINUES NEAR EDGEWATER FOR MISSING HUNTER
The search is continuing today for a 65-year-old hunter who got lost Friday in dense woods near Edgewater.
Despite an extensive effort on Friday from the ground and air, searchers were unable to locate the missing hunter. Visiting from Ohio, the man departed from a residence in the 4000-block of Liza Clinton Road at about 6:30 a.m. Friday morning and walked into the woods to rifle hunt for hogs. At around 12:30 p.m., the man’s cousin -- also visiting from Ohio -- received a call from the missing man saying he was in some thick brush and was lost. The cousin drove to 35th Street and told the hunter to fire off some rounds into the air so he could try to follow the sound and get a fix on his location. The cousin said he heard gun shots coming from the south, but they appeared to be quite a distance away. Officials believe the hunter’s phone battery has since died.
The cousin started searching for the man, but when he couldn’t find him, he flagged down an Edgewater animal control officer for help just before 2:30 p.m. on Friday afternoon. That prompted a massive woods search that included officers on ATVs and scent-sniffing dogs. In addition to the Volusia County Sheriff’s Office, other agencies involved in the search included the Edgewater Police Department and the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission. Tomoka Correctional Institution also sent bloodhound teams to the scene to assist in the search. A Sheriff’s Office helicopter did several flyovers on Friday, but was unable to see much from the air because of the thick tree canopy below.
The search will continue later this morning when the bloodhounds return to the scene. The general search area is bounded by Liza Clinton Road to the east, Volco Road to the south, Cow Creek Road to the west and 35th Street to the north.