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A North Carolina man missing for weeks after a crash near Raleigh returned home, telling family he had been in the woods the entire time.
Dale Wheeler went missing on November 13 after his wrecked car was found vacant on Church Street under Interstate 540 in Morrisville. Local authorities didn't believe it was possible for someone to walk away from a crash that severe, where a "great deal of blood" was found inside alongside his keys. Wheeler, however, returned home on Saturday (November 27) with no "visible signs of injury," WRAL reports.
According to the Morrisville Police Department, Wheeler came home around 10 p.m. Saturday and emailed his brother. He reportedly lost his phone after the crash and had been in the woods ever since, a move that is confusing investigators who are working to understand how he could have survived for days without food or shelter in below-freezing temperatures.
Authorities arrived at Wheeler's home on Sunday where they found him alert and conscious. He was taken to a local hospital for further evaluation. Sgt. Jason Miller said he's never seen a missing persons case quite like this.
"He looked like he was cold. He was shaking and confused," said Sgt. Miller. "He kept repeating he'd been looking for his phone the whole time. He said he'd been in the woods the whole time."
Miller said officials are continuing to investigate Wheeler's disappearance.