{"id":171062,"date":"2026-02-27T04:57:10","date_gmt":"2026-02-27T04:57:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/171062\/"},"modified":"2026-02-27T04:57:10","modified_gmt":"2026-02-27T04:57:10","slug":"florida-man-reeling-from-bad-breakup-found-trapped-in-the-mud-days-after-vanishing-on-valentines-day","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/171062\/","title":{"rendered":"Florida man, reeling from bad breakup, found trapped in the mud &#8212; days after vanishing on Valentine&#8217;s Day"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>It wasn\u2019t for the faint of heart. <\/p>\n<p>A heartbroken Florida man who vanished on Valentine\u2019s Day after a tumultuous breakup was found submerged in mud at a sand plant on Monday \u2014 narrowly surviving days without food or water.<\/p>\n<p>Andrew Giddens, 36, was found stuck in mud near a borrow pit at the Vulcan Sand Plant, eight days after his father reported him missing.<\/p>\n<p>Andrew Giddens, 36, was reported missing on Valentine\u2019s Day. Palatka Fire Department and Putnam County Sheriff&#8217;s Office<\/p>\n<p>Giddens\u2019 father said they last spoke on Feb. 14. The 36-year-old had been depressed after a recent breakup, and vanished sometime after talking to his dad, family and friends <a href=\"https:\/\/www.wcjb.com\/2026\/02\/26\/missing-putnam-county-man-found-after-two-week-search\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" data-nyp-affiliate=\"true\">told WCJB<\/a>. <\/p>\n<p>A deputy who encountered Giddens during a 2023 trespassing incident at the sand plant recognized his abandoned vehicle on the property on Saturday, sparking a widespread search, the outlet reported.<\/p>\n<p>After the grueling two-day manhunt, deputies with the Putnam County Sheriff Office and employees at the plant found him stuck in shoulder-deep mud \u2014 somehow camouflaged below grass level, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fox13news.com\/news\/missing-florida-man-found-stuck-mud-without-food-water-days\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">Fox 13 reported.<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Miraculously, Giddens was still responsive and able to communicate with the employees who found him \u2014 although he was too far out of their reach to pull him out.<\/p>\n<p>Fire crews from Melrose, Palatka and Putnam County responded to the distress call and spent two hours gingerly freeing him from the muck, the outlet reported.<\/p>\n<p>At first, they tried to drag him out using ropes, before pivoting to ladders and other supplies to safely dig him out in one piece.<\/p>\n<p>Giddens was found stuck shoulder-deep in mud. Palatka Fire Department and Putnam County Sheriff&#8217;s Office<\/p>\n<p>He was practically camouflaged because he sank below grass level. Palatka Fire Department and Putnam County Sheriff&#8217;s Office<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis rescue shows the power of mutual aid, training, and dedication. We are grateful for the bravery and professionalism of everyone involved,\u201d the Palatka Fire Department said.<\/p>\n<p>Giddens was hospitalized in critical condition after narrowly surviving the harsh Florida wilderness without food or water for several days.<\/p>\n<p>No charges will be filed for the trespassing out of consideration for Giddens\u2019 mental health issues. <\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s not immediately clear why Giddens wandered onto the property or how he wound up buried in the mud.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"It wasn\u2019t for the faint of heart. A heartbroken Florida man who vanished on Valentine\u2019s Day after a&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":171063,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[28,30,3475,29,2454,723,4278,62021],"class_list":{"0":"post-171062","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-florida","8":"tag-florida","9":"tag-florida-headlines","10":"tag-florida-man","11":"tag-florida-news","12":"tag-missing-person","13":"tag-rescue","14":"tag-us-news","15":"tag-valentines-day"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/171062","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=171062"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/171062\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/171063"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=171062"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=171062"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=171062"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}