Two women were found safe early Wednesday morning after being reported lost in the Ozark National Forest in southern Baxter County. The two women from Big Flat, 49-year-old Vickie Higginbotham and her 30-year-old step-daughter, Sheila Honeycott, had gone hiking in the popular forest in the area of Cook Road Tuesday afternoon.
Baxter County Sheriff John Montgomery says a family member had been looking for the pair but was unable to locate them and called the sheriff’s office for help shortly after 9 Tuesday night.
Higginbotham had texted her husband saying they were lost and needed help in the area of Cook and Push Mountain roads. Higginbotham’s husband searched the area about four hours and could hear the women yelling for help but could not locate them.
Personnel from the Baxter County Sheriff’s Office, Arkansas State Forestry Service, United States Forestry Service, Lone Rock Volunteer Fire Department and Baxter Regional Medical Center all responded to the area to assist with the search. The sheriff’s office helicopter was also launched for the search.
Officials got a break, when personnel in the helicopter spotted a fire the women had built and were able to guide personnel from the U.S. Forestry Service to their location. The women were finally brought out of the forest, unharmed, about 2 Wednesday morning.
The sheriff says the vehicle the women had been in was said to have been involved in a crash somewhere in the forest. U. S. Forestry Service personnel will attempt to locate the vehicle.
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