LEE COUNTY, S.C. — The search for a man who walked away from a Lee County park on Saturday night has ended on a positive note after family and authorities found him early the next morning.
According to Sheriff Daniel Simon, his investigators were called out to Mary McCleod Bethune Park northwest of Mayesville along Mary McCleod Bethune Road around 4 p.m. The sheriff said family members had already begun searching for the 23-year-old by the time they arrived.
Simon said that the man had been in the park when he suddenly went into the wood line and hadn't been seen by his family since that time. They told the sheriff he hadn't done anything like this before.
Sheriff Simon said he was also told by family members that Cato has epilepsy and they were concerned for his well-being. The sheriff said his team had brought out tracking K-9s but said they were unable to find the man's scent. A South Carolina Law Enforcement Division (SLED) helicopter was also utilized in the search.
But the sheriff said he was finally found around 1:45 a.m. - extremely dehydrated but alive. He has since been taken to the hospital for observation.
A family member told News19 that they continued to search into the early morning until they found him deep in the woods. Deputies arrived out in the woods with all-terrain vehicles to help bring them out, the family member added. From there, members of Emergency Medical Services got him to the hospital and, according to his family, he is now home.
