Overnight search through ‘thigh-deep mud’ leads to lost hiker deep in Florida marsh
A woman who vanished in an 11,000-acre wetlands preserve was found hours later “stuck” in the marsh after rescuers waded through “thigh-deep mud and heavy vegetation,” according to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission.
It happened April 22 in Estero Bay Aquatic Preserve near Fort Myers and the hiker was flown from the scene to a hospital, the Iona McGregor Fire District reports in a Facebook post.
The woman, who was not identified, was visiting the site with her husband when she went missing, fire district officials said.
“The husband got tired and came out of the preserve. His wife wanted to keep walking a while longer and that’s when she (became) lost,” fire district officials said.
Authorities were alerted around 4 p.m. Friday, April 22. The woman remained unaccounted for until just before 11 p.m., when a multi-agency team spotted her with specialized equipment, the state reported.
“The group of FWC officers who reached the wayward hiker made their way through half a mile of soft, thigh-deep mud and heavy vegetation,” the commission said. “She was awake and alert, but dehydrated and exhausted.”
The hiker “was stuck in the deepest, marshiest part of the preserve,” the fire district reports.
“At one point, deputies were in waist-deep mud and their boots were getting stuck in the thick sludge,” Lee County Sheriff Sheriff Carmine Marceno said in a Facebook post. “Dredging through waist-deep mud and vegetation is no easy task.”
Rescuers stayed at the woman’s side until a helicopter arrived to fly her out at 1:30 a.m. Saturday, April 23, officials said. Video of the extraction was shared on Facebook.
Estero Bay Preserve State Park covers 11,381-acres and is home to both American alligators and crocodiles, the state reports. “The trails in the preserve are rugged and seasonally flooded in some areas,” state parks officials say.
This story was originally published April 25, 2022 at 3:03 PM with the headline "Overnight search through ‘thigh-deep mud’ leads to lost hiker deep in Florida marsh."