A Turkey hunter who went missing in the Green Swamp East Wildlife Management Area in Polk County was located and rescued by a Florida Fish and Wildlife Commission K-9 team.
On Friday, March 29, a Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) Law Enforcement K-9 team responded to help search for a missing hunter in the Green Swamp East Wildlife Management Area.
The hunter was dropped off for a turkey hunt in the early morning hours of March 28 along a road inside the WMA. At approximately 2:30 p.m. that afternoon, his party reported him missing when he did not return to the designated meeting spot.
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Multiple agencies, including K-9 Units from Sumter County, Polk County, and the Florida Department of Corrections, immediately began to search that afternoon.
Five K-9 teams from various agencies, including two FDC bloodhounds, searched all afternoon and into the early morning hours of the next day.
At 7 a.m. FWC K-9 Officer Malachi Wilkins deployed K-9 Havoc and began to search the last known location of the missing hunter.
FWC K-9 Havoc tracked for approximately half of a mile before locating the man sitting on a fallen tree at approximately 9:30 a.m. He was brought back to the check station where local EMS evaluated him and found no major medical issues.
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