911 Helps Locate Suicidal Caller

A Cowlitz County (Wash.) sheriff’s dispatcher played a critical role in locating a suicidal man who dialed 911, and then played hide-and-seek with deputies who responded to the forested area where he was walking with a rope. The unnamed dispatcher fielded the call from the man on Tuesday, but at first the man claimed only to be a witness. The man said he found a suicide note on his windshield, and didn’t admit that he was the person who was suicidal. Deputies were dispatched, but the man walked up a logging road and into the forest before they arrived. Over the next 40 minutes the dispatcher relayed Phase II coordinates from the man’s phone to the deputies, who were equipped with handheld GPS devices. Deputies also used their sirens to help pinpoint the man’s location, as he hung up with the dispatcher several times. Finally, a sheriff’s sergeant located the man and walked him out of the forest to safety. Read more here.