84-year-old vanishes in Florida marsh, then rescuers get stuck with him, cops say

The search for a missing 84-year-old man became even more challenging when rescuers located him in a marsh, but couldn’t find their way back out in the dark, Florida officials say.

It happened around 3 a.m. Monday, March 24, in the Fort Drum Wildlife Management Area, and the Brevard County Sheriff’s Office resorted to flying the entire group out by helicopter — after sunrise.

The 15-hour search and rescue operation was prompted by reports a man entered the marsh around 2 p.m. Sunday, March 23, and never returned. The wilderness area, about a 100-mile drive southeast from Orlando, includes 21,000 acres of swamp, marsh and forest in Indian River County.

Rescuers started their search around 8:40 p.m. and located the man about three miles from his car.

“Due to the thick brush and the location of the victim, it took several hours before he was found (by Indian River County Sheriff’s Office deputies),” Brevard County officials said in a March 24 Facebook post.

“Eventually (Indian River County) Sergeants Luke Keppel and David Flores were able to make their way to him around 3:00 a.m. but were unable to make their way back out in the night.”

It was then the Brevard County Sheriff’s Office offered help and an aviation unit quickly developed an extraction plan, officials said.

“Just before sunrise, the crew located the victim and two Sergeants in the woods, and went into action,” officials said.

“Fire Medic (Logan) Boswell was lowered to the ground where he began to assess the condition of the victim. ... Ultimately they determined (the 84-year-old man) was able to be secured into what is called the ‘screamer suit’ and Aviation Mechanic Mike Ryle began the hoist up into the helicopter.”

The flight happened around 5:40 a.m. and the man was taken to a waiting crew from Indian River County Fire Rescue and then taken to a hospital, officials said.

“The team quickly returned back to the area where (aviation crew members) Mike Ryle and Steve Lyon extracted both Sergeants out of the woods, and then returned once more to get Medic Boswell back on board,” officials said.

The identity of the recovered man and details of his condition were not released.

“This right here is what happens when everyone works together with one goal…saving lives!” Brevard County Sheriff Wayne Ivey said in the release.

This story was originally published March 25, 2025 at 1:39 PM with the headline "84-year-old vanishes in Florida marsh, then rescuers get stuck with him, cops say."