BUTTERFIELD TOWNSHIP, Mich. (WOOD) — After searching for hours with dogs and a helicopter, authorities rescued an Ohio man who got lost while hunting in the Houghton Lake area Saturday night.
Michigan State Police say 59-year-old Donald Sokol's friends called 911 around 6:30 p.m., saying he hadn't met up with them where he was supposed to.
The man was supposed to be hunting on state land in Butterfield Township, southeast of the lake. Worried about a large search area and frigid temperatures, a group of troopers, two of whom had dogs; several Michigan Department of Natural Resources conservation officers; and a couple of Missaukee County sheriff's deputies went out into the swampy area where Sokol was believed to be. They also put a helicopter in the air.
Crews searched for hours, with the teams on the ground sometimes slogging through chest-deep water. Storm Team 8 says temperatures dropped to about 25 degrees at the time.
Finally, shortly after 11 p.m., a K-9 team found Sokol. Unfortunately, they were separated from him by water that was too deep to cross. The trooper with the dog then started to show signs of hypothermia, so he had to leave the search.
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