Rescuers recently saved a missing Florida man who had been stuck for days in shoulder-deep mud that resembled quicksand. The man first went missing on Valentine’s Day, and no one found him until this past Thursday.
The 36-year-old Jacksonville man was the subject of a missing persons report since his family last saw him on Feb. 14. A citizen found him at a Vulcan Materials Company site east of Melrose, Florida.
According to the Putnam County Sheriff’s Office, he was “covered to his shoulders in the mud and had sunk below the level of the grass surrounding the borrow pit, making him virtually camouflaged.”
Several searches were unable to locate him, despite the fact he couldn’t move
Deputies found the man’s vehicle abandoned on Feb. 23. A deputy who had a previous encounter with the man trespassing in 2023 on Vulcan Materials Company property at a different site recognized the vehicle and the name on the registration.
The deputy asked Vulcan to conduct a property search for signs of disturbance. At the same time, he requested an aviation unit to conduct an air search and a welfare check at the man’s home. None of that resulted in locating the man.
Vulcan staff members were still keeping an eye out for him when someone discovered the man, shoulder-deep in mud, near a borrow pit. Because the ground around him was unstable, the employee was unable to approach him, but he was still able to speak with him.
Because of the quicksand-like mud, making the rescue was not easy
After first attempting to pull him out with ropes, rescuers brought in ladders and other tools to try to dig the man out of the quicksand-like mud. The rescue workers also had to avoid sinking because of the ground’s instability. The rescue team positioned pallets, backboards, and ladders on the ground to provide a secure, more stable work area.
Around 8:30 p.m., rescuers from Putnam County Fire Rescue, the Palatka Fire Department, the Melrose Fire Department, and Clay County Fire Rescue finally managed to extract the man from the quicksand-like mud. An air ambulance transported him in serious condition to a trauma facility.