Jackson County deputies find lost Sandy Creek Park hikers thanks to 911 dispatcher

About two hours before the sun would disappear over the western horizon last Saturday, Jackson County Sheriff’s Deputy Ashley Skelton received a dispatch about a hiker lost somewhere in the woods of the Sandy Creek Park trail system.

The park in Clarke County borders Jackson County and a ping from the lost party showed they had wandered into the county. Skelton said the hiker, who was with two children, reported they were lost.

Skelton, who was soon joined by Sgt. Jonathan Tatum, told the Athens Banner-Herald that the 911 dispatcher had the caller on the line when they arrived shortly before 6 p.m.

“I told dispatch to tell her to stop moving because if her phone dies and she keeps moving we wouldn’t find her,” she said, explaining she didn't want the search to continue after dark.

The woman's phone battery did die. But dispatch was able to ping the caller's last known location.

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The deputies drove to the end of a dead-end road that stops near park property.

“We determined it would be closer to go in on Wages Bridge Road,” Skelton said.

The deputy said she called 911, which sent her a photo showing the path of park trails.

Then the dispatcher was able to use the deputy's open phone line to locate the position of the two officers.

“She was tracking me as I walked in the woods and directing me where to go in correlation to the ping,” Skelton recalled.

While they were making their way through the forest, Skelton said she contacted Jackson County Emergency Management Agency Director Bryan Bullock, who arrived with a drone to provide assistance as the officers wanted to locate the hikers before nightfall.

Using directions provided by the 911 dispatcher the deputies were able to find the woman and two boys, ages 9 and 14, about 6:40 p.m.

The woman was relieved to see the deputies, but Skelton said she was not in distress over becoming lost.

“She was happy. That’s all that mattered,” Skelton said.

The dispatcher then directed them to the shore of the park lake, where a pontoon boat arrived and took them to the main boat landing of the park.

Skelton said she had never participated in a call for help like this one.

She attributed the rescue to the work of the dispatcher, who was able to direct them through the park to the lost party.

“If they weren’t helping direct us, I wouldn’t have known where to go,” the deputy explained.

This article originally appeared on Athens Banner-Herald: 911 dispatcher crucial to rescue of lost Sandy Creek Park hikers