Cherokee County Chief Investigator Josh Summerford says that 45 year old Troy Spence who has been missing since Saturday has been located safe in Austell, Georgia, his home town.

Search and Rescue crews from several different agencies formed a search team Tuesday morning and setup a command post at the Salem Baptist Church on County Road 8 to begin combing a remote area near Indian Mountain. Late Tuesday afternoon, Summerford was notified that Spence was in Georgia.

Deputies from Cherokee, Etowah, and Floyd Counties, along with Game Wardens searched for Spence in the woods near a residence on Indian Mountain over the weekend and on Monday. 

According to Sheriff Shaver, approximately 60 public safety workers searched throughout the area along the Pinhoti Trail on Tuesday before investigators located the individual at a residence in Paulding County, Georgia.

The Cherokee County Rescue Squad, Piedmont Rescue Squad, Heflin Search and Rescue, Spring Garden Fire Department, Calhoun County Sheriff’s Office, Floyd County Sheriff’s Office, Alabama Game and Fish, Calhoun County EMA, and Cherokee County EMA all assisted the Cherokee County Sheriff’s Office in the search.

Sheriff Shaver said, “we appreciate all the many first responders who assisted us in this large scale search effort.”