An eastern Iowa man was found safe on Sunday after he disappeared while hunting mushrooms the previous night. At about 9:30 p.m. Saturday, Linn County authorities were called out to rural Springville on the report of a missing person.
Seventy-one-year-old David Stoneking went mushroom hunting south of his home and had not returned. Family, friends and emergency workers searched the area until about 4 a.m. Sunday, then postponed the search until daylight. The hunt resumed at about 7 a.m. and Stoneking was finally found in a field southwest of his home almost two hours later. Stoneking was in good condition and returned home.
Sheriff’s deputies say Stoneking told them he knew he had wandered off his property and was lost. He was cold and soaking wet and decided to cut open and sleep inside a hay bale. Stoneking had not taken his cell phone because it was raining and he didn’t want it to get wet.
By Roger King, KOEL, Oelwein