Ring rescue

Getting lost in the woods is easier than being found.

Scott A. Hern went to the Red River Gorge in eastern Kentucky, USA to check out a waterfall on 6 July. By 13 July, the 48-year- old hiker had not come home so he was reported missing by his family.

The Wolfe County Search and Rescue Team used dogs to look for Hern in the rugged terrain of the wilderness. After many days of a fruitless search, the team was ready to give up when they found a shoe print and evidence of a walking stick in a little-traveled area, CBS News reported.

Then the rescuers heard a faint cry for help. It was Hern and he was finally found after 14 days of aimless wandering in the woods. Hern was injured, had not eaten, and was severely dehydrated after not drinking water for 12 days. He was airlifted by helicopter and brought to a hospital.

In Thuringia, Germany, a 90-year-old resident of a nursing home was allowed to attend an evening event at a Protestant church in Apolda town on 20 July.

The old man failed to check in at the home at 8:30 p.m. so the staff reported him missing, Deutsche Welle reports. Police in six patrol cars searched around the Apolda Lutheran Church area but could not locate him.

At 3:15 a.m. the church bells began pealing, and officers went to check. A man was behind the locked door and they talked to him. It was the missing nonagenarian.

Eventually, the pastor was called to unlock the church and free the trapped man, according to Deutsche Welle. Police learned that he got trapped inside the church after it was locked. He then looked for the automatic bell ringer to set off the church bells.

He was safely returned to the nursing home.