ALETHEIA
Volume XXVIII, Number 3
Montreat-Anderson College
September 23, 1994
Anderson and Sarvis Found After 52 Hour Search
by Jeff Reardon
The mountains of Western North
Carolina were set ablaze with activity this
past weekend as fireman, students, and
community volunteers searched for miss
ing students Sean Anderson and Moffitte
Sarvis. ^
The search, which began with a mod
est 6 hikers, escalated to a 300 man rescue
mission. Emergency crews from over five
counties were called in to aid in the three
day search.
The nightmare began early Saturday
afternoon. Equipped with nothing more
than a day pack and the coats they had on
their backs, Anderson and Sarvis embarked
on their three day journey by making a
preliminary visit to the General Store at the
foot of Lake Susan.
Tracy Munn, the store's clerk, recog
nized the two as hikers that she had en
countered them and they remembered them
and they remembered me. I asked them
why they had all of these groceries. I can't
remember all that they had... I remember
Beanee Weanees."
With a significant supply of food,
both hikers started off down Greybeard
Trail. Upon reaching the shelter which is
half-way up Greybeard, they discovered
Jay Guffey's backpacking class.
The backpackers, who were return
ing from their own three day jaunt to Mt.
Mitchell, were surprised to see the poorly
equipped students.
According to backpacker Lisa
McMurry, both students had been caught
in an afternoon rain shower. "Sean and
Moffitte were soaked to the bone. They
didn't have anything with them except for
a daypack. Guffey gave them a flashlight."
Later she added, "It took them three and a
half hours to get up here. It only took us
two hours. They got lost coming up this
far."
Twenty hours later in M-A Hall
lobby, Guffey and his class began the three
day search.
On the heals of last weekend's
Sundance trip, as well as the most recent
backpacking expedition, many students
were well prepared and physically primed
for the events that would later ensue.
Several groups of students, as well as
environmental science and out-door recre
ation professors Brad Daniel, Jay Guffey,
Ben Fortson, and Mark Lassiter went hik
ing and camping Sunday evening in hope
that they would be able to locate Sean and
Moffitte.
Fairly warm temperatures blessed
the crews who returned home empty handed
Monday morning.
John Abel, who camped at the foot of
the Toll road, commented, "We wanted to
do more but couldn't. We just built a fire
and watched it bum. We had to make a lot
of noise so I played my guitar most of the
night."
News of the missing student spread
like wildfire. By 10a.m. Monday morning,
the operation had outgrown M-A Hall lobby
and was relocated to Anderson Auditorium
parking lot.
Student coordinator Misty Viruolo
compiled lists of hiker and continuously
sent out parties of four and five as the day
wore on.
Cops Crack Down on Parking
By J.R. Cunningham
The Black Mountain Police Department issued new parking regulations.
Chief Halford of the Police Department stated,"Park in the 'No Parking' zones,
you get towed. It’s that simple." Halford further commented, "In the past, people would
just take the $5 fine and continue parking there so we had to take more drastic measures
to control the situation."
These are the specific areas that parking is forbidden: Gaither Circle (except in
specific areas). Assembly Circle (except some areas in front of Howerton), Appalachian
Way, from Lookout Road to Missouri Road, Geneva Place from Appalachian Way to
Gaither driveway on west side, and from Appalachian Way back 50 feet on the East side.
Vehicle owner Chris Robertson stated, "I think that any student should be able to
park anywhere on campus since they pay to go here, except for faculty parking spaces."
Some of the students may have a misconception about the new regulations and
find them unfair. Halford clarified this by concluding, "It's all for their [students] own
good, the ambulance, fire department, and police need access to certain areas and we
can't help the college adequately if we don't have access to these spots."
Cruise Away the
by Stephanie Young
The Office of Advancemen t and S tra-
tegic Planning along with Regency Cruises
will be offering a cruise to the Caribbean
and the Panama Canal, January 1-8,1995.
The cost of the tour is $999 per
person for an inside cabin and $1100 per
person for an outside cabin.
Betty Ferrel will be this year's direc
tor.
The Ferrell’s have hosted tours for
several years and are happy to now host
them under the sponsorship of M-AC.
The tourparticipants will depart from
the Asheville Airport and fly to Montego
Bay.
The ship will travel from Montego
Bay to Puerto Moin, Costa Rica.
From there it will sail part way down
the Panama Canal. The ship will traverse
the Gatun locks and reach the Gatun Lake
Winter Blahs
where the cruise turns around and then
head to Cartagena, Colombia. From there
the ship will travel to Aruba. After Aruba,
the cruise will return to Montego Bay.
According to Ferrell, 34 people are
signed up to travel on the cruise.
One staff member who is taking the
cruise is the Director of Alumni Affairs,
Peggy Leis. She exclaimed, "I want to go
because it is the most inexpensive way to
see five countries. I hate cold weather and
this will be a nice break from it. You need
to take advantage of opportunities that are
presented to you."
' There are cabins still available on the
cruise.
Another major tour being sponsored
by the college will be a trip to Israel, March
10-19, 1995. The cost is $1899.
, President and Mrs. Hurt will be the
host and hostess.
Viruolo shared, "I have 87 people
signed up. That includes four EMT's (Emer
gency Medical Technicians) and several
able-bodied professors. However, it doesn't
include all of the staff and students who are
helping out around here."
Chaplain Ed Bonner began a twenty-
four hour prayer vigil that involved 144
students praying for 10 minutes at a time.
Students who could not hike periodi
cally patrolled the campus looking through
dormrooms and unoccupied classrooms for
the unnoticed early arrival of Anderson
and Sarvis.
Others prepared sack lunches, while
some directed the constant influx of traffic.
John Anderson, Sean’s father,
emerged on campus Monday afternoon.
He noted coolly, "I have confidence in
Sean. He's hiked before with his church
and this summer he went on Discovery. He
knows how to keep warm and how to build
a shelter."
By 5:30 p.m., the cafeteria was
dubbed Staging Area for a debriefing of the
past day's events.
As the military copters equipped with
an infrared scanning system arrived from
Seymour Johnson Air Force Base in
Goldsborough County, Viruolo launched
several more groups that would camp on
the mountain throughout the night.
Four hours later, hikers were discon
tinued from the search to enable the heli
copter with the infrared system to be more
effective in finding the missing students.
Detouring commercial air traffic for
a fifty mile radius, the chopper searched
late into the night.
Temperatures dipped into the thir
ties on the mountains early Tuesday, cata
pulting the situation into one of life and
death.
The next morning students were
chilled to learn that Anderson and Sarvis
were still missing.
By noon Tuesday, the search pulled
in volunteers and professionals from
Hendersonville, Anderson, Buncombe,
McDowell, Burke, and Winstom-Salem
counties.
In addition, were the manhunters
from SART (Search and Rescue Techni
cians).
Volunteer for the Black Mountain
Fire Department Kent Barnes commented,
"We have 3 of the 4 SART divisions in the
whole state of North Carolina combing
these hills."
Swayed by differing reports from the
dogteams, former M-AC student Bill Bar
rett led a troop of military police through a
trail up the western face of Greybeard.
Finally at 6:15 p.m., after a gruelling
52 hour search that cost more than $30,000,
Brand Daniel confirmed reports that Ander
son and Sarvis were found alive.
Superintendent of the North Fork
Reservoir Charlie Casey was patrolling the
watershed when he heard a noise.
"At first I thought they were tres
passers, then I realized that they might be
who we were looking for", explained Casey.
After calling the helicopters for trans
port, Casey greeted the students as they
made their way through the thick foliage
and into the clearing.
•Anderson and Sarvis were recon
ciled with friends and family members
moments later at the Incident Command
Center stationed in the gravel parking lot
behind the library.
Both were diagnosed as being in
good condition, although dehydrated.
The missing students had been hik
ing up Greybeard when they took a wrong
turn at Seven Sisters.
Deciding to camp out Saturday night,
they resumed their trek home the next
morning.
Reasoning that Montreat was to their
left, Anderson and Sarvis walked north
west to the reservoir.
Not realizing that the trails in that
area were circular, the two continued to
walk away from Montreat.
Anderson revealed their survival se
crets by saying that they drank from streams
and ate berries when their provisions ex
pired.
At night they slept on textbooks that
they had in their day-pack. "We cuddled up
and used body heat to keep warm. One
night we slept under a hollow log," replied
Anderson.
After being released from the hospi
tal Tuesday night, Sarvis commented on
her exhaustion, "I'm going home to crash."
Cries of relief fell from the lips of
Moffitte's, Carson and Gilbert Sarvis, who
had been in Montreat since they arrived
late Sunday.
"It was an incredible outpouring of
support," said Mrs. Sarvis with tears, "We
just want to thank everybody for an incred
ible job. Praise God."
Willcox Expresses Thanks for Second Chance
by Sherrie Willcox
I made a trip this week to UNCA to
meet with some new M-AC students. You
will probably never see their faces here on
campus, but they are out there!
I am now attending the School of
Professional and Adult Studies with 17
other students. We range anywhere from
26 to 47 years of age and come together
every Monday night at the Radisson Hotel
for four hours.
We are all striving to receive our
Bachelor in Business Administration and
will graduate in the spring of 1996. It's not
going to be easy, but we all have one thing
in common...to further our education with
out putting out lives on hold.
I made a mistake 16 years ago when
I arrived on campus here. My goal was to
leave home and have fun. Education was
not important. I was one of those students
who wanted to be accepted by others, to be
good and bad at the same time (of course
Dad calling me every week kept me
straight).
Sure, it’s okay in my book to have a
great time and enjoy life around >'ou. Bu t
take one minute and think about your fu
ture. Will you find yourself in a schaol like
this in 10 years or so?
I hope not. 1 desire for each one of
you to accomplish the dreams you are
striving for.
Cary and I have had to start ovo.r
again because we d'id not complete our
studies. But I wish that I had done things
different. Now I have to face the challenge
of balancing a full-time job with classes,
four children and a husband, who is the
biggest challenge of all!
S.P.A.S. is a second chance: for me.
Thank you M-AC for allowing me the
opportunity to complete something that I
should have finished years ago.