A 63-year-old man and his dog, missing for nearly 24 hours in the dense woods of Haywood County, Tennessee, have been safely rescued. Steven Troy Roper, a diabetic in need of regular dialysis, was located chest-deep in swamp water yesterday, after search efforts by local authorities the previous day were unsuccessful and had to be discontinued due to nightfall, as reported by Action News 5.
Roper had gone into the woods on Monday, after his dog, Baxter, who was eventually found using its GPS collar, but Roper became disoriented and unable to navigate his way back out; he sent an image to his wife depicting his trapped state, followed by a distressed call after which his phone's battery life faded, a sequence of events detailed by the WREG. Subsequently, his wife reported him missing, triggering a multi-agency search that included the likes of the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation, Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency, and numerous Emergency Management Agencies from surrounding counties.
On the morning of the following day, a coalition of rescue teams formed by the West Tennessee Task Force N.O.A.H.—an acronym for navigation, observation, apprehension, and high-risk recovery—arrived, ready to launch a comprehensive search operation. According to Chief Eric Turner, who spoke to Action News 5, responders followed clues left by Baxter, such as paw prints and bent grass, which helped locate Roper and his dog in approximately 65 minutes from when the search began that day.
Upon discovery, Roper's core body temperature had dropped due to his prolonged exposure to the swamp water. Yet, Baxter is believed to have helped him survive the chilly night. Chief Turner emphasized the importance of the dog's presence to Roper's endurance through the ordeal, mentioning how "having that dog with him" might have contributed significantly to Roper's survival, as reported in the Local Memphis coverage. Following the rescue, Roper was taken for medical evaluation while Baxter received a bath courtesy of TBI agents who were part of the rescue operation.
