New Jersey Hunter Finds Man Missing For 8 Days

VINELAND, N.J. (CBS/AP) -- There's a happy ending to a frightening saga in southern New Jersey.

Authorities say a hunter found a man who had been missing for eight days.

Charles "Joe" Taylor, who's had trouble speaking and walking since a stroke three years ago, was reported missing from his Vineland home on Sept. 26.

Authorities searched a park where he had reportedly been seen and used an automated call to ask residents to look for him.

But Henry David Metcalf found him without looking on Tuesday. He was heading through some brush to do some bow-hunting when he came upon Taylor on the ground.

"First I walked right by him", said Metcalf who could not hold back his tears. "He was covered in leaves, his hands were cold so I took off my clothes and put them on top of him."

The 62-year-old was alive, though he had endured rainy days and nights with lows in the 40s.

At the hospital where Taylor is being treated for hypothermia and dehydration, Jadwiga Taylor says her husband kept reaching for her hand. She and her son Josh are relieved he is okay and grateful to the hunters who did in one day what they couldn't do in eight.

The rescue was first reported by The Daily Journal of Vineland.

Reported by Robin Rieger, CBS 3

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