- March 12, 2025
Two people lost Sunday night in 11,000 acres at Mudmuckers event in Bunnell have been found.
Mudmuckers organizers became concerned Sunday night when, two hours after the event closed, a truck and ATV trailer were still on the property. Bunnell Police Department investigated and determined two people were lost in the woods on their ATV. Bunnell Fire Chief Derek Fraser organized a search and rescue at 8 p.m. Sunday that included Bunnell volunteer firefighters, police, the Flagler County Sheriff's Office, hunters from the Bimini Hunting Club and Volusia County Air 1.
The search was called off at midnight. At 8 a.m. Monday, the search resumed, with seven teams of two searching geographic sectors.
The helicopter, piloted by Brady Winslow, located the couple, Wayne Oley, 32, of Holly Hill, and Bridget Madorma, 24, of Daytona Beach, at 10:35 Monday morning. They were waiving a stick in the air and were no where near their ATV. They were picked up near State Road 11, nearly seven miles from the Mudmuckers front gate at county roads 75 and 90. Oley stated they had blown a tire and had started walking but could not find their way back.
They finally decided to get some sleep and made a bed of palm fronds. When found, Oley was shirtless as he had given his shirt to Madorma to help keep her warm. Both were released from fire and rescue unharmed.
Fraser commended the Flagler County helicopter and Mudmuckers organizer "Iron Horse" Billy Stewart for gathering the Bimini Hunting Club members who knew the area well. Without them, other rescuers would probably have gotten lost as well.
