A kayaker lost for days during a solo trip in the Florida Everglades has been found alive floating in a river.
A helicopter crew spotted Mark Miele, 67, from Virginia, and led a marine unit to his location yesterday. He was taken to hospital in the city of Naples.
He embarked on the solo trip in the Everglades national park on January 22 and did not return when expected on January 29.
A search began on Sunday after park rangers found a bag containing his wallet and phone washed up on the bank of the Lopez river.
A helicopter crew eventually spotted Miele floating in the water face-up and wearing a life jacket several miles from where his belongings were found. It was unclear how he lost his kayak.
Deputies had downloaded data from Miele’s phone on Sunday night. His most recent location had been recorded on Friday, giving the sheriff’s aviation unit a place to target its search.
