2 teens get lost in Gandy mangroves

Anyone who lives in Tampa or Pinellas, or fishes around Gandy knows there is no way to get lost in the mangroves. At most they are 30 yards wide. You either walk into the road, or walk the other way and walk in the water. Sounds like they were ball gazing to me

http://www.myfoxtampabay.com/dpp/news/local/pinellas/teens-rescued-from-mangroves-stpete-081110

Teens rescued from mangroves
Couldn't find way out after going exploring

Updated: Wednesday, 11 Aug 2010, 6:31 AM EDT
Published : Wednesday, 11 Aug 2010, 6:29 AM EDT

ST. PETERSBURG - Two 18-year-olds were found safe Tuesday night after they got lost in a mangrove swamp near Gandy Boulevard.

Police say Aaron Smith and John Oropeza had a cell phone with them and were able to call for help around 1 p.m. They told officers they had gone into the mangroves just northeast of Brighton Bay Boulevard to explore around 9 a.m. but couldn't find their way out.

Police immediately went to the area and sounded an air horn, which the teens said they could hear, but officers said the two did not come out of the mangroves.

Officers launched boats to search the swampy area and Florida Fish and Wildlife joined in with foot crews and a plane.

Smith and Oropeza had spotty contact with police by phone because they said their cell phone battery was about dead and the phone had to be turned on and off throughout the day.

But officers say the phone likely saved their lives, and they were spotted by the FWC plane sometime after 8 p.m. Rescue crews helped them out of the mangroves and both were found uninjured.

Officers said, based on the phone calls, they were under the impression that Smith and Oropeza had used a machete to make their way into the mangroves. Police searching by boat thought they found the area where the pair had entered the swamp, citing fresh hack marks from a machete in one spot. At least one of the teens was thought to live in an apartment in the area.