Please attribute to Sergeant Ian Martin, Search and Rescue Coordinator, Invercargill:
Being prepared and equipped has helped a missing man avoid a cold night in the forest after a search and rescue operation near Gore last night.
At 4pm on Wednesday 11 April, Southland Police were notified of a 68–year-old Invercargill man missing in the Hokonui Forest near Gore.
A search and rescue operation commenced, involving LandSAR volunteers from Invercargill and Gore, along with Amateur Radio Emergency Communication volunteers.
Around 10pm a Southern Lakes Helicopter, equipped with night vision, was deployed from Te Anau and they were easily able to spot the man signalling with his headlamp. He was winched from thick native bush on the side of a steep gully.
Police, as well as the missing man and his family, are extremely thankful to the LandSAR and AREC volunteers, and the search team would like to commend the man for taking a headlamp which saved him a night out in the cold bush.
The man was uninjured and did not require any medical treatment.
ENDS
Issued by Police Media Centre