Hunter missing in Sumter County WMA for over 24 hours found by FWC K-9 team

On Friday, March 29, a Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) Law Enforcement K-9 team responded to assist with a search for a missing hunter within the Green Swamp East Wildlife Management Area.

The hunter was dropped off for a turkey hunt in the early morning hours of March 28 along a road inside the WMA.  At approximately 2:30 p.m. that afternoon his party reported him missing when he did not return to the designated meeting spot.

Multiple agencies, including K-9 Units from Sumter County, Polk County and the Florida Department of Corrections, immediately began to search that afternoon. Five K-9 teams from various agencies including two FDC bloodhounds searched all afternoon and into the early morning hours of the next day.

At 7 a.m. FWC K-9 Officer Malachi Wilkins deployed K-9 Havoc and began to search the last known location of the missing hunter. FWC K-9 Havoc tracked for approximately half of a mile before locating the man sitting on a fallen tree at approximately 9:30 a.m. He was brought back to the check station where local EMS evaluated him and found no major medical issues.