By Robert E. Williams III and Lawrence Ragonese
The Star-Ledger (Newark, New Jersey)
MORRIS COUNTY, NJ — A Summit man taking a hike through the Great Swamp National Wildlife Refuge Sunday night launched a 100-person rescue effort when he became lost in the wooded terrain.
Rescuers combed the 7,600-acre refuge in search of Andrew Moore, a 41-year-old hiker authorities said frequently visited the Morris County refuge as one of thousands of people who go there each year to watch local wildlife.
Moore parked his car in the county park commission’s Great Swamp Outdoor Education center parking lot and walked from there into the woods of the federal wildlife refuge.
“He went onto a trail, got turned around and lost his way,” said Lt. Dave Wieland of the Morris County Park Police. “He wandered deep into the swamp. And it can get very confusing once you’re in there, without any markings or way to get your bearings. He ended up in the middle of nowhere.”’
Moore called police around 6:30 p.m. after he became lost in the eastern portion of the site, an area refuge manager Bill Koch said has often confused visitors in the past.
“Most of the people that get lost are on that end of the swamp,” Koch said. “There are some trails but they are limited. Once you get off those trails, a lot of it looks the same. It’s swampy and hard going.”
After Moore’s call for help, rescuers from more than 13 agencies canvassed the area using the Global Positioning System from Moore’s phone to help narrow his location, authorities said. Park Police joined in the search, using two all-terrain vehicles to race up and down the power line clearings.
Sgt. Tim Abline and patrolmen Robert Kranz and Kyle Laauwe, moved off dry ground and into the waters of the swamp to find him.
“Once they were off the trail, they were up to their thighs in muck,” said Wieland. “It’s really bad in there. Tough to move quickly, and there was no light.”
Even when search crews closed in on the missing man, it was not easy to find him, said Wieland.
“Searchers yelled his name and he responded. But it was hard to get to him,” said Wieland. “The terrain is overgrown and very swampy. Even after they reached him, it took a long time to get him out.”
Moore was found around 2 a.m. yesterday. It took rescuers an hour to tramp through the swampy, wooded terrain to get Moore out of the area.
The Chatham Emergency Squad evaluated Moore, and agencies left the area by 6:30 a.m., authorities said.
A Green Village firefighter assisting in the rescue was taken to Morristown Memorial Hospital after suffering from exhaustion and chest pains, authorities said. Police declined to release his name or information on his condition.