Missing Florida Man Found Alive, 13 Days Later, Buried in Quicksand

Andrew Giddens hadn't been seen since Valentine's Day. When rescuers finally found him nearly two weeks later near Melrose, Florida, he was submerged to his shoulders in thick mud at the edge of a borrow pit on a Vulcan Materials Company property, so deep below the surrounding grass line that he was nearly invisible.

"He had been stuck in mud for several days without food or water, while the area faced freezing temperatures," the Palatka Fire Department said Thursday in a statement.

Weather records for the area show that temperatures in early February dropped to wind chills as low as 18°F overnight, with widespread frost and lows in the upper 20s on consecutive nights. For north-central Florida, that is exceptionally cold. For someone trapped outdoors and unable to move, it was life-threatening.

Rescuers from four different fire departments responded Thursday. Body camera footage shows crews initially trying to pull Giddens free with ropes before switching to ladders, pallets, and wooden boards to distribute their weight across the unstable ground without sinking in themselves.