A hiking trip to North Georgia ended in dramatic fashion for a South Georgia couple. The husband called 911 Monday evening to report his wife missing after she failed to return to the base after hiking Yonah Mountain.
The man told White County emergency responders they separated on the trail. He waited to see if his wife had returned to the base and asked several hikers coming back down if they saw her and they had not.
White County firefighters were dispatched to the scene around 5:30 p.m. The Georgia State Patrol helicopter conducted an aerial search. At 7:30 p.m. the crew spotted someone waving a stick with a piece of cloth on the end of it, according to White County Public Safety Director David Murphy.
Firefighters branched off into two teams. One team was positioned at the lower landing zone area on the mountain while the other made its way to the top of Yonah. Working with the State Patrol helicopter crew using GPS, rescuers were able to pinpoint the person’s location. It turned out to be the missing woman. Rescuers located her around 10:30 p.m. and with the assistance of Lee Arrendale firefighters set up a rope system.
“Firefighters rappelled down the rock face to her location. She was then hoisted back up to safe footing,” Murphy says.
White County EMS evaluated the woman. She was not injured and Murphy says the incident was closed.
Earlier this month, emergency responders rescued a man on Yonah Mountain after he fell 100-feet down the rock face while rappelling.
