Missing family found, An Ohio family spent a rainy, anxious night in the vast Florida Everglades when their airboat became stuck in vegetation so thick rescuers could not see them from the ground. Fortunately, the searchers could hear them.
The Schreck family was found safe Friday when rescuers heard them blowing whistles and an air horn. The father, an avid outdoorsman, said he took a wrong turn and got stuck.
The Schreck family was found safe Friday when rescuers heard them blowing whistles and an air horn. The father, an avid outdoorsman, said he took a wrong turn and got stuck.
“Took a right and couldn’t get the boat turned around,” Scott Schreck, 44, told reporters after his family was brought back to dry land. “This is the first time I’ve been out here, so obviously I’m a novice on this body of water. Not the thing to do.”
The family was spotted by a helicopter and eventually rode back to land on the airboat with rescuers.
Officials abandoned a plan to hoist the family into a helicopter because of bad weather.
In addition to Scott Schreck, the family includes his 42-year-old wife, Carrie, and three young boys, who were on spring break from Seville, Ohio. They launched the airboat, borrowed from a friend, Thursday morning in Miami-Dade County.
Law enforcement, fire rescue and wildlife agencies launched a massive search, using helicopters, airplanes and at least six airboats. The area covered some 1,000 square miles in three South Florida counties north of Everglades National Park.
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