Published: November 16, 2009 03:15 pm      

Hikers found after 2-hour search

Cell phone GPS helped rescue squads locate couple that had lost flashlight

By Samantha Swindler / Managing Editor

A young couple that was hiking near Cumberland Falls and lost their flashlight was located by volunteer firefighters after an approximately two-hour search Friday night.

Oak Grove Volunteer Fire Chief Kevin Gibbs said the man and woman — identified as Chris Price of Hebron, Ky. and Ms. Jerry Rose of Corbin by the Whitley County emergency management coordinator — had started hiking the Dogslaughter Falls trail at about 3:30 p.m. Friday. By the time it got dark, they realized they didn’t have their flashlight.

“They just lost their flashlight and had enough common sense to stay put and call 911,” Gibbs said.

The couple was located about a quarter of a mile from the trailhead, he said, after a roughly two-hour search. The man’s cell phone was able to determine within about 100 meters where they were located, but it took some time for searchers to find them.

“Not only did they have limited service, but their cell phone was almost dead,” Gibbs said.

Seven firefighters with Oak Grove VFD responded to the scene, along with members of other rescue squads.

“(Whitley County Emergency Management Coordinator) Danny Moses called in McCreary and Whitley County Rescue Squads, and about the time McCreary County got on scene was about the time we found them,” Gibbs said. “... Whitley County Rescue Squad was on scene probably 15 minutes before they were located.”

The couple called 911 around 7:30 p.m. and were found at around 9:30 p.m.

Gibbs said Oak Grove VFD responds to eight to ten lost hiker reports every year.

“It’s normally over with by this time of year, but with the weather that we’ve had, people are outside... They don’t realize how quickly it gets dark,” he said.