February 20th, 2024, a male called in, stating that two of his friends were stuck in a heavily wooded marsh area off NFS-572, Umatilla, FL. Prior to losing contact with the couple, they stated they were extremely cold, had no gas for their vehicle, and their phone battery was depleted. Deputies searched the area for approximately an hour but were unable to locate the subjects.
Due to the conditions of the forest road, LCSO Aviation Eagle 1 responded to the area to conduct an aerial search. After searching the area for about an hour with the thermal camera, the aircrew saw the lights from the vehicle with the night vision goggles. Due to the car being the same temperature as the ambient surrounding it did not show up well.
Contact was made again by phone and the aircrew was able to use spotlight to assist by lighting up the path for the couple to walk along the path where a deputy was waiting. They were found to be in good health.
Awesome job!