Search crews have located a father and his two children who had been missing for more than two days in a swampy South Carolina national park, officials said Tuesday.
J.R. Kimbler, his daughter, Jade, 6, and his son, Dakota, 10, were found safe in the vast woods and swamps of the Congaree National Park in South Carolina Tuesday morning before sunrise, the Associated Press reported.
Although none of the three appeared to be seriously hurt, they were taken to a local hospital for observation, according to a news release. More information would be released later in the day, authorities said.
After the father sent a message late Sunday claiming they were lost, crews traveling by airplane, boat and on foot had been searching for the family in the 27,000-acre site.
During the search, officials had closed the park on Monday afternoon. Leads outside the park were also checked by the National Park Service in case the family members had not been lost while hiking.
"There had been no indication Kimbler, 43, took any camping gear or other items for an overnight stay," the AP reported. "The taxi driver left his cigarettes in his cab that was still parked near the visitor's center Monday, and his daughter's inhaler and other medicine were in the hotel room where he lived, according to his family."
Even though the marked trails run through the park, tangles of old growth trees, swamps and underbrush appear beyond a certain area.
"Many of the trails you can't see to navigate right now," said Sana Sohen, a park service spokeswoman.
The mother of the two children, Tammy Ballard, was at the park during the search, walking down trails, calling their names, the AP reported.
"It's been tough. I see so many footprints out there," Ballard said Monday.
She did not immediately respond to a phone message Tuesday.
