Woman found by Wayne Sheriff's Office
By Steve Herring
Published in News on October 5, 2016 10:03 AM
A Wayne County Sheriff's Office helicopter crew found an elderly Pine Level woman missing since late Saturday night lying in a ditch shortly after noon on Monday.
The Raven helicopter aircrew, consisting of Lt. Tom Parker and Deputy Joey Sutton, was among law enforcement and emergency personnel who participated in the air and ground search after the woman apparently walked away from her home between late Saturday night into early Sunday morning.
Patricia Ann Jordan, 75, was discovered in a ditch in a bean field approximately 500 yards off U.S. 70 Alternate about one mile from her residence just east of Pine Level in Johnston County.
Ms. Jordan, who suffers from dementia, was taken by Selma EMS to Johnston Medical Center, Smithfield where she was admitted. Hospital officials could not be reached prior to press time this morning for a condition report on Ms. Jordan.
"It was a really deep ditch," Johnston County Sheriff's Capt. Jeff Caldwell said. "It was probably six-foot deep in a bean field. She was laying on her side. The Highway Patrol was requested first and came in on Sunday. We contacted Wayne County early yesterday (Monday) morning.
"Of course the weather was not good at all. It was foggy. Just as soon as conditions allowed, those guy were overhead. It was a widespread search. We knew her point last seen and that was it. No one saw a direction of travel. It was just a search of the entire area. We really did not have any idea where she was."
Deputies, along with the assistance of multiple agencies, began an intensive ground and air search early Sunday morning after Ms. Jordan was reported missing, Caldwell said.
More than 60 people participated in the search that started just after midnight Sunday morning. The search continued throughout the night and into Monday morning, although the night-time search were scaled back somewhat.
The search was conducted by the Johnston County Sheriff's Office Search and Rescue Team, with the assistance of the Wayne County Sheriff's Office, Wake County Sheriff's Office, North Carolina State Highway Patrol, Pine Level Fire Department, Arr-Mac Search and Rescue, Pinelands Search and Rescue, Coastal Carolina Search and Rescue, Wake County S.A.R. K-9, Johnston County Emergency Management and North Carolina State Emergency Management.
"This is just another example of state and local agencies working together assisting families in need," Johnston County Sheriff Steve Bizzell said. "As sheriff, I am humbled by the dedication of the public servant's whom volunteered their time in this search, and the outpouring of support from members of the community who stopped by the command center and left food and water, voicing their appreciation for our service."
Both Sunday and Monday morning visibility was almost nonexistent because of the fog, but fortunately weather conditions were not too bad overnight, he said.
"That helicopter is just an asset that can cover so much ground from an advantage point that when you are on the ground, especially the bean fields the way they were -- we would have had to step on somebody to see them in they were laying in a bean field," Caldwell said.
But with its bird's-eye view the way helicopter can assist in a search is a valuable tool, Caldwell said.
The Wayne County Sheriff's Office's two helicopters have probably been used close to 50 times for people searches, Maj. Tom Effler said.
"When a mission results in a very satisfactory completion such as this one did it definitely makes the helicopter worth having," Wayne County Sheriff Larry Pierce said. "I am glad we have the working relationship with other counties to be able to lend our resources to help them whenever it is needed.
"We have been called to assist many counties and we have called many counties to assist us when we need some of their assets. As Sheriff Bizzell stated, it is just another good example of agencies working together to assist families in need."