ON the evening of Saturday, August 6, 2022 Cumberland Co. E-911 received a call from a lost female in the area of Catoosa Wildlife Management Area. The female was very distraught and was unable to give much detail as to her location, condition, or events leading up to her call for help. When operators attempted to call the phone back for more information, the calls went straight to voicemail as of the phone battery was dead or out of signal.

Cumberland Co. Sheriffs Office, Cumberland Co. Rescue Squad, and Crossville/Cumberland EMA were dispatched to the area and a Command Post was established at the Hebbertsburg Fire Dept.

As the night progressed more information became available leading to the need to expand the scene and a Tennessee Highway Patrol helicopter was requested as well and personnel from the Tennessee Emergency Management Agency who responded to the scene to assist.

In the early morning hours just before sunrise (Sunday, August 07, 2022), the THP helicopter located the missing female and kept visual on her location while ground crews from Cumberland County Rescue Squad and Cumberland County EMS were sent to her location to remove her from the Daddy’s Creek gorge. A very hazardous area by water or ground.

Upon contact with the female, it was determined that she was not injured, but that she had set off the previous evening with a male companion to float the River in tubes, had gotten separated, and the male was still missing in the wilderness.

Immediately more resources and man-power were requested from Fentress Co. Rescue Squad, White Co. Rescue Squad, Christian Aid Ministries, continued air support from Knox Co. Sheriffs Office Aviation Unit, and communications support from Putnam Co. Homeland Security Comms Team due to the size of the potential search and exhaustion from the overnight search on our local personnel.

The male subject was found safely around noon on Sunday, August 7, 2022. He was assessed by EMS and was returned home.

All units were accounted for and returned to service around 2 p.m. and the command post was terminated.

Thank you to all the agencies, professionals, volunteers, and workers that made this Mission a success. No emergency is ever the same or “routine” and we are fortunate to have some of the best in the business living and working among us here in Cumberland Co.

-Travis Cole, Director

Crossville/Cumberland Co. EMA