Female Hiker rescued from Lake Russell WMA on Thursday

Thursday morning, Sgt. Tim Vickery and Game Warden First Class Ethan Franklin were called to assist Stephens County with a Search and Rescue for an adult female hiker on Lake Russell Wildlife Management Area.

Stephens County E911/EMA Director Danielle Rhodes says the lost hiker contacted 911 at approximately 6 a.m. to state that she was lost.

Stephens County Sheriff’s Office was dispatched to the area for an initial attempt to locate her; however, they were unable to locate the hiker at which point they requested Stephens County Search and Rescue.

Rhodes says they assembled teams for ground searching at that time. They did an initial hasty search, focused on a ping location from her initial call, with no success.

She had become lost while hiking the trails at the Frady Branch trailhead off Hwy 184.

In the early afternoon as the game wardens were searching on foot, they heard the victim at the top of Farmers Mountain and were able to climb up the mountain to her.

Stephens County Search and Rescue personnel on the other side of the ridge also heard her calling at approximately the same time.

The Game Wardens and Stephens County EMS personnel arrived at the victim’s location and assessed her condition.

She was disoriented, dehydrated and had an injured ankle.

Due to the rugged terrain and the difficulty of extracting her on foot, DNR aviation was called.

Capt. Steven Turner piloted the helicopter with Game Warden Kalem Burns rappelling and Game Warden Roger McConkey as Aerial Observer.

They successfully made the extraction, and the injured woman was transported to the landing zone and taken Stephens County Hospital.

Rhodes says many agencies helped with the search, including the Stephens County Search and Rescue, Stephens County Emergency Management Agency, Stephens County 911, Stephens County Sheriff’s Office, Stephens County Marshall’s Office, Stephens County Fire Department, Stephens County Public Works, Cornelia Fire Department, Stephens County Emergency Medical Services, Stephens County Hospital-Community Paramedicine, White County K9, Rabun County EMA Search and Rescue, Georgia Emergency Management and Homeland Security, DNR, DNR Aviation, GSP Aviation, and Athens Clark County Communications.