Featured Story

Police guide lost hikers in Pine Barrens back to safety on Christmas

Southampton Town police helped navigate two hikers back to safety after they became lost in the Pine Barrens on Christmas Day.

Police received a distress call from two women at about 3:30 p.m. Tuesday. The women had been hiking and were in the vicinity of Suffolk County Community College. Dispatchers tracked the cell signal to about .8 miles south of Moriches-Riverhead Road in the Northampton/Eastport area.

Knowing that there was less than an hour of daylight left, the dispatchers were concerned and the hikers’ phone battery was down to 30 percent.

All available Southampton police units were dispatched to the immediate area and officers deployed a drone to assist in the search. Dispatchers used Enhanced 911 technology, which can automatically provide a location to 911 dispatchers, and a GPS system to guide the hikers toward police who were deployed along trails within the Pine Barrens.

Officer Josiah Hoshyla eventually located the hikers. The women were evaluated and transported back to their vehicle parked on County Road 51.

Photo credit: Google Maps