Missing man found
<p>Ben Granderson/Valley Press</p><p>The rescue team unloads Troy Akers from Two Bear Air after he was found Wednesday.</p>
By Ben Granderson
Valley Press
After four days of searching for Troy Akers of Ronan, he was found alive and coherent with only exposure injuries in a creek bed near Dixon.
A search had been underway along North Creek Road and the surrounding area that straddles Sanders and Lake counties.
Akers was last seen on April 26 when he and three of his friends took a drive up North Creek Road. Their vehicle became stuck and they abandoned the vehicle and started walking. The four became lost as they attempted to find help and their way. Akers became separated from the group. The other three individuals were found.
Askers was wearing a white t-shirt, shorts and tennis shoes.
The search continued through Monday and Tuesday. Sanders County sheriff Tom Rummel said that on Tuesday he had 15 people and three rescue dogs out looking for Akers and on Wednesday, he had 25 people out and one rescue dog searching.
The area on Wednesday that the search and rescue operations were working in was approximately 80 to 90 acres, Sheriff Rummel reported.
At 4:15pm on the April 29, the call came in that one of the ground crews found Akers in a creek bottom. Two helicopters with different capabilities were called in. A Med Star helicopter was called in from Missoula. It arrived at the staging ground and waited. The ground rescue group could not get Akers out of the Creek bed and a second helicopter, Two Bear Air out of Kalispell, was called in to get Akers out. Eventually, the second helicopter got Akers out and landed at the staging ground and Akers was transferred to the Med Star helicopter and taken to Missoula.
Rummel said North Valley Search and Rescue, Flathead County Search and Rescue, Lincoln County Search and Rescue, Sanders County Search and Rescue, Lake County Search and Rescue, Missoula County Search and Rescue, U.S. Border Patrol, Tribal Fish and Game participated in the search.
“This is an answer to prayers. I want to really make sure that all the agencies are thanked for their help. We couldn’t have done it without them,” Rummel said.