An Athens, Ga. man who had been hiking the Appalachian Trail was found by local rescue workers in good health, but dehydrated after a report that he was missing three days earlier.
Joel Eizenstat, 67, began his trek after he got a friend to drive him to a trail head in north Georgia on April 3, according to his ex-wife, Linda Eizenstat. She said his family was concerned about him beginning the journey because they had noticed that he had been different and was showing signs of Alzheimer’s.
Linda Eizenstat said hiking the trail had been a dream of Joel’s and that he had read books and even attended seminars by people who had hiked it. “He researched it extensively,” she said.
The Clay County Sheriff’s Office received notification that Joel Eizenstat was missing on Monday, April 11. They were given a general location of Muskrat Shed.
”I got a call from his current wife on Monday, that he was lost and stuck on a ledge somewhere just across the North Carolina border,” said Linda Eizenstat. “He had called her and she told him to call 911, which he did. They managed to ping his phone, but then his battery died.”
The sheriff’s office was contacted by his family and a host of rescue agencies joined the search on foot, by horseback and by air. Wildlife Commission, U.S. Forest Service, Macon Fire and Rescue, N.C. Emergency Management, Mountaineer Mounted Search and Rescue, Life Force Helicopter of Franklin, Georgia State Patrol helicopter, Towns County Search and Rescue and Clay County Sheriff’s Office searched for Eizenstat for several days.
“At some point in his ordeal, he lost his hearing aide, backpack which contained his food and water and tent. Without water and adequate shelter, we knew he would not have lasted much longer in the wilderness,” Linda...