Police find lost motorist

GOGEBIC COUNTY — Authorities in Gogebic County successfully located a man who became lost en route to his destination.

At approximately 10:00 p.m. Friday, the Gogebic County Sheriff’s Office received a call that a man, identified as John Church, 30, was traveling from Appleton, Wisconsin to a remote area in the Porcupine Mountains, when he didn’t arrive at his destination at 5:00 p.m.

Deputies were able to track Church’s travel thanks to cell phone towers. They determined that his last location was in Wakefield. Officers believed that Mr. Church took County Road 519 North to the South Boundary Road.

Authorities were able to find what appeared to be an older set of tire tracks down a closed portion of South Boundary Road. They eventually found Church’s vehicle in a ditch.

Using snowmobiles, officers followed a set of footprints that led away from his vehicle in an easterly direction. Approximately 6 1/2 miles from his vehicle, officers found Church lying in a snowbank.

Church told authorities that he was very tired. He was taken by snowmobile approximately 12 miles to his destination at the Union River Cabin near Silver City.

The Michigan State Police and the Michigan Department of Natural Resources assisted the Gogebic County Sheriff’s Office in the search for Mr. Church.