Cellphone data analysis leads to rescue of stranded hunter in Union County

UNION COUNTY – (Release from Union County Search and Rescue) In the late evening of Saturday, December 21st, Union County 911 dispatch received a report of an overdue hunter believed to be in the Mt Harris unit of eastern Union County. Patrol deputies notified SAR, and patrol and SAR resources coordinated initial hasty search and investigative efforts throughout the evening and into early morning hours. Family members also communicated their efforts to search roads in the area with investigators. During this time, SAR team members performed a detailed analysis of the tower and signal data in the hunter’s cell phone records. The results of that analysis allowed our team to determine a probable travel path of the hunter prior to him losing phone service the previous morning, which dramatically reduced the area to focus ongoing search efforts.

In the early morning hours of Sunday, the 22nd, SAR deployed three teams to the area prioritized by the cell phone data analysis. At about 8:45 AM, a SAR team operating the unit’s tracked UTV located the hunter stranded in his stuck vehicle on a road east of Mt. Harris. A patrol deputy had attempted to reach that area the previous night while performing an initial search, but was forced to turn around due to the depth of snow that had turned to slush with recent rain. Despite the cold nighttime temperatures, the hunter was found in good health and spirits, and assisted off the mountain by SAR.

This mission underscores not only the tenacity and dedication of our amazing SAR volunteers, but also the importance of always communicating your travel plans with others in detail to assist SAR in your rescue. In the absence of useful historical cell phone data, the search area in this instance would have encompassed an area of nearly 200 square miles, and required a substantial amount of time to search, potentially leading to a less favorable outcome.

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Elkhorn Media Group