Two missing cavers were found at 3:45 a.m. on Wednesday in a cave at the foot of Lookout Mountain after an hours-long search. They were found in the farthest known part of the cave.
The large-scale search and rescue operation was underway for two missing men at the base of Lookout Mountain. Crews from Chattanooga and Hamilton County were looking for Gabriel Vaughn, 21, and Robby Dobos, 23.
It is a complex operation due to the location as crews were braving dark and dangerous conditions in an effort to find the two friends.
Mr. Vaughn and Mr. Dobbs were last seen around 8 p.m. Monday night when the two left to go explore caves. When they did not return, friends and family members became concerned and reported them missing to police. Then they started searching for them in different locations.
Friends ended up locating Mr. Vaughn’s car in the parking lot of Walgreens on Broad Street around 4:30 Tuesday afternoon. They believed the two men were in nearby caves and went to look for them. When they did not find them, they contacted authorities and a search operation was launched. It is believed the two men made it about a mile down inside a cave at the bottom of Lookout Mountain. It is not open to the public for exploring.
Drone operations went across the outside of the mountain searching and nothing was found. Teams had been thoroughly looking for the men down inside the cave. CFD, CPD, HCSTARs, HCOEM, Chattanooga-Hamilton County Rescue Service, Norfolk Southern Police, HCEMS, Highway 58 VFD, Hamilton County 911 Incident Dispatch Unit took part in the operation.
The Chattanooga Fire Department thanked all of the agencies involved in the search.
Officials said, "The mission spanned more than 12 hours, lasting from Tuesday afternoon into Wednesday morning. It ended with a successful rescue. Tremendous collaboration by first responders once again saved lives. Several teams went into the multi-level cave which is closed to the public and owned by the railroad. It is bisected by an active train tunnel. Inside, it is easy to become disoriented and the two parties made a wrong turn, taking them further into the cave. They were finally located by personnel with the Chattanooga-Hamilton County Rescue Service approximately 1.5 miles inside the cave at 3:45 a.m. on Wednesday. They were cold, wet and hungry as they were not properly equipped for the environment, but they were able to walk out on their own with no injuries. The evacuation took several hours. They were evaluated by Hamilton County EMS and refused transport to the hospital. Rescue crews were exhausted, but glad that both parties were safe."
“We greatly appreciate the teamwork by everyone involved and the seamless incident command system,” said Chattanooga Fire Chief Phil Hyman. “This all could have been avoided if these individuals had made more responsible choices. It put the lives of all of our crews at risk and it was very labor intensive. But it showed the compassion and dedication of our first responders and volunteers and in this case, there was a positive outcome.”