Watch: Aviation, K-9 Units Team Up to Find Missing Man

Team work gets the credit for the rescue of a missing, endangered Tampa man early Tuesday morning.

According to the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office, the rescue began to unfold around 2:13 a.m. when patrol deputies were notified that a vehicle belonging to a 24-year-old man with suicidal intentions was spotted near the entrance to Lettuce Lake Park.

That call prompted the sheriff’s office aviation and K-9 units to swing into action.

Aviation units made it to the 6920 E. Fletcher Ave. park first and began looking for the missing man.

“K-9 Max and Master Deputy Michael Surrency arrived and began to track north from the vehicle,” an email to media from the agency stated. “Sheriff’s pilots Stewart O’ Shannon and Jeffrey Gray began to search ahead of K-9 deputies when the pilots picked up a heat source and quickly directed Master Deputy Surrency and K-9 Max to the area.”

K-9 deputies found the man unconscious and were able to move him from a thick wooded area to a safer location where emergency medical care could be provided, the agency noted.

Photo of Master Deputy Michael Surrency and Max courtesy of the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office

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