THEPALMER/iStock(NAPLES, Fla.) — A Virginia man who vanished last month while kayaking in the Florida Everglades was found alive on Monday, authorities said.
Mark Miele, 67, embarked on a solo kayaking trip in the Everglades National Park on Jan. 22 and was due back Jan. 29 but he didn’t return. Miele’s bag, with his cellphone and wallet, washed up on the bank of the Lopez River on Sunday.
National Park Service rangers discovered the belongings and asked the Collier County Sheriff’s Office to assist in a search.
Deputies downloaded data from Miele’s phone that night and found his most recent location had been recorded on Friday, giving the aviation unit an area to target the search, according to the sheriff’s office.
A helicopter crew located Miele shortly before noon on Monday, who was wearing a life jacket and floating in the water a few miles from where his belongings were found the day before.
The sheriff’s marine unit, alongside National Park Service rangers and officials with the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservative Commission, reached the area and took the man to safety.
Miele was transported to a Naples hospital for treatment.
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