09/24/2026
Bless him! What a night he must have had! Thankful for those that looked for him!
Update from Matt Teeters sister* in regards to the events that took place before, during and after his side quest/rescue.
Linda Walker Teeters thank you for sharing. I know the internet can be demanding and sometimes unbearable when you're in the spotlight. Yall dont owe an explanation but I appreciate you giving one anyway.
"Matt Aaron Teeters is sore, a little dehydrated, scraped up and exhausted, but safe. He and Nick Walker got separated yesterday afternoon headed to Winding Stairs, and there are a lot of trails that go in a lot of different directions. When he came to a Y where he should have gone left, he went right. This is his first time hiking the loop, so he didn’t know which way to go. Once he realized he was going the wrong way, he tried finding his way back. He eventually knew to stop and rest, and by nightfall he stopped and hammocked to get some sleep. He got up around 6:30 this morning and found his way to the swimming hole they were trying to make their way to yesterday and waited. He knew someone would find him eventually.
A local woman with knowledge of the area and lots of hiking experience had a feeling to go out and search with her dog this morning. She called into work and went the back way through Musgrove Hole to Winding Stairs. We are so grateful for Ashley Lea Smith and Buckey. They are the heroes of this story!
We are also grateful for Monte Bartek, who drove up from DeQueen to search last night with his thermal drone. He came up without question to help strangers, and he didn’t stop until he lost his drone around a ridge right before midnight (they luckily recovered it just a bit ago).
We are grateful for the knowledge and experience of Nicholas and Lonna Johnson, who no doubt would have stayed in the wilderness until they had to be pulled out by their hiking boots, for Daniel Walker and John Fox Branson for knowing exactly where to go and being exactly right, for The Montgomery County Sheriff's Office, Arkansas for coordinating the search and rescue efforts, for Madison Cook and Langley VFD for their assistance and support, and for everyone who reached out, offered support, volunteered to help, drove up (or headed this way), and kept him - and all of us - in their thoughts and prayers.
We’ve learned a lot of valuable lessons in this. It is incredibly easy to get lost in these mountains, even if you’ve been here before. He heard the drone flying last night, and he heard people yelling. He yelled until he couldn’t anymore. The ravines and ridges make sound bounce and disappear. We learned to stay closer to each other on trails. We learned that signs on the trails up here can be misleading. We learned that people on social media make weird, parasocial comments about people they don’t know. But most importantly, we learned that most people jump to action immediately and strangers will put their lives on the line with no questions asked.
We witnessed the power of hope. And for that, we are forever grateful 🤍"
I didnt know what kinda photo to add with this and Im sure Matt is probably tired of seeing his pjoto everywhere so I present to you this. A photo of me during an overnight hike on the exact same trail just a few yards away from where he was found... unsuccessfully inflating one of them weird couches.
