Runner missing from endurance race in Brevard County found alive

TITUSVILLE, Fla. - After not being seen for nearly 36 hours, endurance runner Earl Blewett was found alive Monday morning in Titusville.  It was a wonderful surprise for his family.  

"Yesterday, when we left, it was like, ‘I don’t think we’re going to be doing a rescue; we’re going to be doing a recovery,’" Jerry Kisamore told FOX 35 News. 

First responders were just about to resume their search Monday morning when they got a call from a security guard at Knight Enterprises, which is at least a half-mile down the road and across the street from the Enchanted Forest Sanctuary where the race was being held.  

"There was a security guard doing the rounds around there and saw him in the woods. Kind of hard to miss a very florescent shirt on," Sgt. Timothy Werring, Titusville Police said. 

The director of the endurance race said he had personally seen Blewett about 9 hours after the 100-mile race started Saturday.  

"I saw Earl late in the afternoon about an hour before sunset…we walked together or a little bit he said ‘You know, I get disoriented at night easily, and I get off course all the time, so keep an eye on me!’" Mike Melton told FOX 35 News. 

Melton said the race consists of 29 loops around the 3.46 mile course.  Blewett was on his 17th loop Saturday night around 9:35 P.M. when race officials noticed he hadn’t hit his next check point.  Race volunteers started looking for the 57-year-old man, running the race loop forward and backwards but didn’t see him.  

Race officials alerted Blewett’s wife.  She called Titusville Police from their home in Oklahoma at 10 a.m. on Sunday morning to report him missing.  Titusville Police started talking to some participants running the race and spoke to one person who had talked to Blewett right before he was last tracked on the course. 

"He had some cognitive issues, had run off the course. Some people recognized that. He was last seen around 9:30 that evening," Sgt. Werring said. 

Blewett’s father-in-law and mother-in-law immediately drove down from their home in Palm Coast to help in the search as soon as they learned he could not be found. 

"There were cars everywhere, K9 vehicles everywhere, and they had the fire truck, ambulance, and I was hoping the coroner’s car didn’t show up," Kisamore said.  

Investigators searched all day using horses and helicopters, but had to suspend their efforts when the sun went down Sunday night.  Police say they’d gotten reports from motorists that they had seen a man matching Blewett’s description along Columbia Boulevard in Titusville before Knight Enterprise’s security guard found Earl in a wooded area towards the back of their property while doing his morning rounds.  

"He was in a state of delirium. He didn’t understand exactly what was going on. We had to convince him to go to the hospital.  He thought he was in a hotel room," Sgt. Werring said. 

Kisamore told FOX 35 News that Blewett is at Parrish Medical Center receiving the treatment he needs.  

"He’s got a lot of bumps and bruises on him," Kisamore said.  

He also said Blewett’s kidney levels are elevated, he is dehydrated, he has a gash on his head, and a bad ankle sprain.  Kisamore also tells FOX 35 News that Blewett was starting to feel like his old self.  He got his sense of humor back and he is aware of the massive search that took place to find him.  

"He’s just hoping he doesn’t get a bill for that," Kisamore said.

Titusville Police clarified Blewett will not be getting a bill, and they’re thankful that this story has a happy ending. 

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