The California family who spotted the missing man says they're amazed they saw him. Lava was what they were looking for and n the middle of nowhere someone lost was the last thing they would have expected to turn up but that's exactly what happened. KHNL News-8's Stephen Florino spoke with the teenager in Kona. Their son spotted a "sparkle" on the ground. On a grass mound somewhere in Volcanoes National Park sat Gilbert Dewey Gaedcke. Lost for 5-days. Tired... And alone. Diann Kim and her family were at the end of their Blue Hawaiian Helicopter Tour when her 15-year old son Peter spotted something. It was a man. They tossed him water then landed at the Hilo Airport. The pilot went back and picked up Gaedcke. The Texas businessman personally thanked his young rescuer. WAIMEA, Hawaii (AP) - A Texas man who spent five days lost in a lava field near the Big Island's Kilauea volcano says he survived by squeezing water from moss he found on trees sprinkled across an otherwise barren landscape. Gilbert Dewey Gaedcke was rescued Friday afternoon after a helicopter spotted him stumbling across the rocky lava, trying to attract attention with a mirror from his camera. He had been missing since Sunday night, when he decided to take a hike across the barren and desolate lava fields to get a closer look at the active volcano. The 41-year-old experienced hiker from Austin, Texas, said he saw no water anywhere, but there were pockets of jungle-like vegetation sprinkled throughout the old lava flow. Gaedcke said he would crawl beneath the vines and lick moisture off leaves. Then he found moss growing on the trees, and was able to squeeze enough water from it to drink. When found, he was dehydrated, and had suffered cuts on his hands and feet from the glass-like lava but was otherwise O-K.
