Missing Camden County man found after three-day search in Buffalo Swamp
Dec. 22—A nearly three-day pursuit of a missing hunter through Buffalo Creek Wildlife Management Area ended on Cathead Creek Tuesday with his safe rescue.
As reported in The Darien News earlier this week, the search and rescue operation involved two state Department of Natural Resources helicopters, one Georgia State Patrol helicopter, 20 or more game wardens, McIntosh County Sheriff's deputies, McIntosh County Emergency Management Agency, McIntosh County and Darien Volunteer Fire departments' search and rescue teams and Camden County Sheriff's deputies.
Capt. Chris Hodge with the DNR's law enforcement wing said Leonard Crawford, 57, of Camden County, went missing Sunday afternoon during a hunting trip with his son and cousin. The relatives lost contact in the swamp where they had no cell phone service, Hodge said, but they had the foresight to ping Crawford's last known location.
"We began the search around 2 o'clock Sunday afternoon, conducted ATV, foot, truck patrols that evening," Hodge said.
Around 7 a.m. the next morning, McIntosh and Camden deputies and both counties' emergency management agencies were there to help, along with two helicopters that happened to be in the area for training.
"When darkness came, we used the Georgia DNR FLIR (forward-looking infrared) helicopter to look for heat sources in the area," Hodge said.
It was cold and Crawford was wet for most of the search, so the infrared cameras didn't turn up much. He led them on a six-mile chase before the search party finally caught up with him on Cathead Creek about four miles from Darien.
"Coming up the river we heard him hollering, and he was up a tree near the water. We got him, put him in our boat, and took him back," Hodge said.
Crawford was taken to the Southeast Georgia Health System's Brunswick hospital, but Hodge was not aware of his condition. It was a cold and wet trek for Crawford, sometimes dropping to nearly 32 degrees overnight, so Hodge said he may have had a touch of hyperthermia.
There's a lesson to take from all this: it takes very little effort to get lost in the wilderness.
"Buffalo Swamp, once you get into the swamp out there everything looks the same in every direction," Hodge said. "There's always water, there are always trees, you can very easily get turned around there."
He said everyone should carry a small first aid kit, survival blanket and a lighter or something else to start a fire with and make sure it works. Crawford had a magnesium fire starter, but it didn't work, Hodge said.
No one had cell phone service out there, he said, so also make sure to carry a GPS if you can afford one or a compass and map if not.
Start a fire, keep warm and don't go too far, he continued. Crawford went those six miles looking for a waterway and a high point to try to flag someone down, but it's easier to find someone when they aren't moving.
"If you get lost, stay still," he said. "It's easier to find someone in a particular area than if they're moving. We were tracking him, but we were always missing him."
