Watch Mich. Deputies Track Collapsed Driver near Swamp after Crash
By Brad Devereaux
Source mlive.com
VAN BUREN COUNTY, MI — On a snowy Southwest Michigan evening, deputies responded to a crash after a vehicle left the road and hit a tree.
But when they arrived around 8:30 p.m. Friday, Jan. 3, the car was cold and collecting snow on 22nd Street near 72nd Avenue.
The driver was gone and had disappeared into the snowy night.
As the minutes passed and temperatures hovered around 20 degrees, investigators worked to find the missing driver, racing against high winds and snow that continued to fall heavily at times.
A resident then called to report a man had been at their home. The man told the resident he was cold and trying to get to a friend’s house after having car trouble.
He left on foot.
At the house, a deputy found a footprint in the snow. Then another — a trail.
“We’ll be following him into the wood line,” a deputy is heard saying on body camera footage released to MLive.
They followed footprint after footprint, flashlights darting around in the floating snow.
The deputies yell out, trudging through thick brush after the man, finding and following the trail as it winds through the harsh environment.
It led them through a field and woods, to the edge of a swamp.
There, they found the 64-year-old Lawton man unresponsive on the ground.
“I got him right here, laying in the weeds,” a deputy says on the video.
The man’s clothing was wet and starting to freeze, police said.
Deputies were able to get him to respond and become more coherent.
He was so cold he could not feel his legs and said he had been in a crash at least two hours earlier. He got lost while looking for help, the man told police.
The sheriff’s office said it is likely the subject would have succumbed to hypothermia on the edge of the swamp if he hadn’t been rescued.
The sheriff’s office reminds the public to bring basic emergency supplies in their vehicle in case of a motor vehicle crash or car trouble in the winter. These items should include things like a blanket, extra coat, winter boots, water, food and a flashlight.
John Agar and Lori Chapman contributed to this report.
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