Flomaton man found in creek

Flomaton resident Martha Sansom credits God and a caring community for finding her brother clinging to a stump on Big Escambia Creek for more than 10 hours Friday night and Saturday morning.

"We had to pick him up at the emergency room but we could have been going to the funeral home to pick out a casket," Sansom said. "We were blessed. There were a lot of people out there working and a lot of people praying."

The saga began Friday night when Gerry Thompson, 33, didn't come home for supper.

"He normally comes home at dinner time," Sansom said.

She said her husband John had seen him walking around town between 2:30 and 3:30 p.m. Friday.

About 8:30 p.m. Sansom reported Thompson missing.

Flomaton Police Chief Chance Thompson said one of his officers had seen Gerry about 6 p.m. heading to the creek under the Highway 31 bridge.

Sansom said she's not sure it was her brother with the fishing pole but it led police and others to begin the search at that location.

Chief Thompson said when police arrived under the bridge they found Gerry's T-shirt, sunglasses and shoes on the sandbar.

"We put out a BOLO and contacted the sheriff's department," Chief Thompson said.

He said Sheriff Heath Jackson and a deputy brought a boat and went down the creek from Highway 31 to Railroad Street with no sign of Gerry.

Chief Thompson said a helicopter from the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency was launched and searched from the Highway 31 bridge to Fannie and still no site of Gerry.

"We made a decision to wait until daylight and then the plan was to launch three boats at the bridge in 30-minute increments and float to Fannie," Chief Thompson said.

Thompson did note that officers received a tip from someone who said they saw Gerry in the creek near Railroad Street at the trestle.

Chief Thompson, Game Warden Adam Johnson and Travis Johnson left in the first boat just after sunrise.

Chief Thompson said they found Gerry more than 2 miles from the Highway 31 bridge holding on to a stump in the middle of the creek in 8 feet of water about two bends before Fannie Road.

"He'd probably been holding on to that stump for more than 10 hours," Chief Thompson said.

He said they got Gerry to a sandbar to assess his health and then transported him by boat to the Fannie Road bridge where they were met by Gerry's family, Flomaton Fire Chief Steve Stanton and a D.W. McMillan ambulance.

Gerry was transported to D.W. McMillan Hospital and later released.

Sansom said she was standing next to Stanton near the Fannie Road bridge when it came over the radio that he had been found and that he was OK.

"It was a miracle from God," Sansom said. "We never gave up hope but we were scared. I can't even start to thank all the people who helped search for Gerry. To see a community rally to help someone is amazing."

Chief Thompson said once the call was made of a missing person help arrived from citizens, the Department of Corrections, Alabama Law Enforcement Agency state troopers and helicopter, the sheriff's office, the fire department and more.

"Luckily this had a happy ending," Chief Thompson said. "Gerry's fine and he's back home or now walking around Flomaton like he loves to do."