Lost Iowa hunter spends a night in the woods
By REID MAGNEY | La Crosse Tribune
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NEW ALBIN, Iowa ‹ More than 100 people searched for a missing deer hunter Saturday night and Sunday morning before he walked out of the woods on his own.
“He was in good shape,” said New Albin Fire Chief Linus Ott. “He was just dehydrated. No frostbite.”
The search began Saturday evening after Chris Nosbisch, 28, of Burlington, Iowa, didn’t return from hunting with two others about five miles southeast of town near the Mississippi River, Ott said.
Authorities conducted a ground and air search until 5:30 a.m. Sunday, assisted by Gundersen Lutheran’s MedLink helicopter and the Iowa Civil Air Patrol.
Ott said Nosbisch could see the helicopter searching for him during the night but was unable to signal. He’d dropped his gun and didn’t have a light or a way to make fire, Ott said.
“There was a fresh snowfall, so we couldn’t track him,” he said.
Overnight, temperatures in northeast Iowa fell to 14 degrees, according to the National Weather Service.
The search resumed at 7 a.m., and about 10 a.m. searchers found Nosbisch walking out of the woods, Ott said.
After local EMTs checked him out, Medlink flew Nosbisch to Gundersen Lutheran, where he was treated for dehydration and released, Ott said.
