QUICKSAND

Man Missing for 10 Days Found Alive Stuck in Mud

The Florida resident went without food or water in freezing temperatures for days.

Andrew Giddens was missing for 10 days when he was found buried up to his shoulders in mud at a Vulcan Sand Plant in Florida. The quicksand-like mud deeply engulfed the 36-year-old, leaving him trapped without food or water for more than a week in freezing temperatures, according to the Palatka Fire Department. It took authorities three hours to extricate Giddens after finding him in the afternoon of February 26. He was freed from the mud by 8:30 p.m. the same day and was taken to a nearby hospital in critical condition. He is now in stable condition. The search for Giddens began on February 23 after Deputy Derrick Holmes found an abandoned vehicle he suspected belonged to Giddens, based on a previous encounter with him. Suspicious, the deputy requested a welfare check at the Florida man’s home and searched nearby, where he was not found. Police then reached out to his friends, who told them that he was depressed from a recent breakup and had not been seen since February 14, when he was last seen by his father. After that, a missing person’s report was filed, and the company Vulcan found him on its property, buried in a borrow pit.