Rescuer recounts finding man who survived 2 weeks in Red River Gorge

CAMPTON, Ky. ( FOX 56 ) — The large-scale search for a missing Ohio man in the Red River Gorge came to a close on Saturday when he was found alive in the wilderness.

Scott Hern’s family hadn’t heard from him since July 5. However, the 48-year-old’s vehicle was seen on July 6 at the Tower Rock Trail parking area along Highway 715 in the Red River Gorge.

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Wolfe County Search and Rescue (WCSAR) crews used Friday as a rest and planning day before returning to search alongside multiple dog teams.

“I am not a very religious person, but yesterday morning I woke up and said a prayer for Scott Hern and his family. To be honest, praying isn’t something that I do too often,” Eric Wolterman, a search team member, said. “We were working on this operation since Tuesday, and most of the team went into the day pretty much with the thought that this was going to be a recovery mission. So I said a prayer knowing the family would probably be getting some very sad news that day.”

“It was going to be the final day of searching whether we located anything or not,” he recounted. “We were in the roughest terrain you could imagine and it’s very dangerous for anyone to even be out there.”

Search crews said they learned from Hern’s “diary” that he had visited Bell Falls along Highway 715. Although the area had previously been checked, they decided to work to clear it. That’s when crews found a shoe and walking stick print in “an area that few travel.”

WCSAR said that crews continued up the creek and heard someone yell for help, and Hern was found on a steep embankment below a cliff line.

“My team spent hours bushwhacking in our search area, we struggled up a creek and found a few footprints in the mud. We stopped to regroup, and one of the people on the team heard a very faint noise. We paused, and we shouted, ‘Who is that?’ Thinking it was another search team. I then heard ‘Help!” We took off in the direction,” Wolterman said. “As we got closer asked what his name was and he ‘Scott Hern’ I have never moved faster uphill in my entire life.”

Around 3:30 p.m. on Saturday, WCSAR announced that Hern was found by a five-person crew and was taken to an area hospital for treatment.

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“I was the first one to get up to him and I said ‘My name is Eric, I’m with Wolfe County Search and Rescue. You are safe, we are going to get you out of here.’ He looked at me and said ‘Thank you so much. Will you give me a hug?’ I got teary-eyed, and gave him a big hug,” Wolterman said. “I think it was the best hug of both of our lives.”

According to WCSAR, Hern spent 14 days lost in the Daniel Boone National Forest near the Red River Gorge. He survived 12 of those days without any food or water.

“It is truly a miracle,” WCSAR said.

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