UGA STUDENTS RESCUED IN SPALDING CO.

On Saturday February 15th, 2020 at 10:44 p.m., deputies with the Spalding County Sheriff’s Office received a call regarding 7 adult males that had been reported missing in the 800 block of Baptist Camp Road. 

When deputies arrived on scene they were contacted by Austin Grant. Grant told the deputies that he and approximately 40-45 other students from the University of Georgia were there on a camping trip and 7 of the students decided to go on hike in the woods around 8:30 p.m. None of the students took a flashlight or cellphone with them. According to Grant, the remaining students searched for the ones that were lost for approximately two hours before calling 911 to report them missing and get help. 

Due to the fact that the temperature outside was cold and dropping, it was sprinkling rain intermittently, they were not properly clothed for the weather they were in, and they were without water or shelter, Sheriff Dix activated the Spalding County Sheriff’s Office Aviation Unit (STAR) to conduct an air search for the missing students. While conducting a grid search of the area, STAR located a small campfire several hundred feet in the woods about a little less than a mile away from where the students originally began their walk. 

Deputies on the ground were guided to the area by STAR and all 7 people were located huddled around the fire they had built. They were cold and wet, but otherwise unharmed. In interviews conducted after the rescue, it was learned that the students became lost while participating in a fraternity initiation, and they were not allowed to have cell phones, flashlights, or other personal items while participating in the initiation. 

Sheriff Darrell Dix stated that, “The actions of the initial responding deputies, investigators, and deployment of STAR piloted by Chief Deputy Tony Thomason, with Captain Joe Peavy acting as Tactical Flight Officer, resulted in this successful ending. This whole incident was the result of a fraternity initiation that put the students that were missing in a potentially dangerous situation due to the fact that all the students involved underestimated the weather. They forget how fast something that was meant to be funny can turn into a serious situation."