By Bob Fowler
Knoxville News-Sentinel
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — Three people stranded overnight on rugged Windrock Mountain near Oliver Springs were located just after 9 a.m. Wednesday, Anderson County Rescue Squad Chief Terry Allen said.
“We’re not sure if they’re hypothermic or not,” the chief said, adding that two paramedics were among the searchers.
The three people, two men and a woman, ages 19, 22, and 24, were being brought down the mountain by rescuers, he said. Their names and addresses weren’t immediately available.
Allen said they were in a Chevy pickup and a Nissan Pathfinder that reportedly became stuck in a ravine on or next to a washed-out trail on the mountain. Windrock Mountain, a popular mecca for off-road motoring, is crisscrossed with a network of four-wheel-drive trails.
The trio became stuck around dusk Tuesday and notified authorities by cellphone several hours later. That call to the Anderson County E-911 system touched off a search and rescue mission that included the rescue squads of Anderson and Morgan counties along with members of the Marlow Volunteer Fire Department.
“They were slightly confused about their location,” Marlow Fire Chief A.J. Harris said. He said members of the department staged at the base of Windrock Mountain around 10:30 to begin what would prove to be an all-night search. Harris said one of the stranded motorists was located first after apparently hearing a rescue vehicle and began walking toward it.
More than a dozen emergency response personnel were involved in the rescue mission.
More details as they develop online and in Thursday’s News Sentinel.