POSTED at 1 p.m.
Rescue crews have found two new pairs of boot prints believed to missing hunter Jamey Mosch. The prints were found north of a canal parallel with Alligator Alley and a mile east of Turner River Road. The prints appear to be fresh and heading east toward Turner River Road, according to Michelle Batten, a spokeswoman with the Collier County Sheriff’s Office.
“We think the probability is that they could be his,” Batten said.
Authorities will be shutting down Alligator Alley in this area around 2 p.m. for helicopter to land. Teams of dogs and an airboat will be searching the area.
**I think they meant the prints are heading west toward Turner River Road...
**I think they meant the prints are heading west toward Turner River Road...
Yea when i read that i paused and had to think about it lol...im pretty sure they meant west too
Dude is still missing. Sounds like he is hoofin' it back the right direction.
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Authorities shut down the Alligator Alley portion of Interstate 75 four times Thursday afternoon as helicopters dropped off search and rescue teams near mile-marker 75, where they believe lost hunter Jamey Mosch may be located.
The move was prompted by the discovery earlier in the day of two pairs of boot prints north of the canal running parallel to the interstate, and about a half-mile to a mile east of Turner River Road. The boot prints appeared to be headed west.
"Those footprints those two teams found are our best hope of finding this guy," Cpl. John Borchers of the Collier County Sheriff's Office told the gathered rescuers.
"Hopefully he's on his way back to Turner River, and we can pick him up," Borchers said.
A.J. Maynard and Pam Steelman of the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission were the first off the helicopters. They said they were looking for any sign of Mosch; a track or an unnatural disturbance.
They've both rescued people from the Everglades before.
"We've found them four days later, and they've been fine," Maynard said.
The news of Mosch's disappearance has been a concern in his home town of Elmira, N..Y, near Ithaca, said Mosch's longtime friend, Keith Gustin.
Gustin said his Facebook page has been flooded with well-wishers, and he's receiving hundreds of phone calls a day from friends trying to get the latest information. Mosch was well-liked and had a lot of friends in his hometown, Gustin said.
Gustin said his mood has swung from optimism to pessimism as the week drags on.
"We're trying to stay positive," he said. "It's a rollercoaster ride. It really is."
Gustin wonders why his friend, who is an experienced hunter, hasn't used some of his outdoorsman skills to alert rescuers to his wherabouts. Why, for instance, hasn't he started a fire? Why hasn't he been following the stars?
"Maybe everything isn't what it seems," Gustin said.
Hes gotta be close to something. Either 75 or Turner River Rd
