Safe escape from cave

Sgt. Josh Tolar (far left) talks with Tonya Davis, left, Jeremy Leverette and Brad Pierce after they were removed from a cave off John Brinkley Road early today. (Photo by Bo Melson) [Click to enlarge]

Three persons who denied they were lost were rescued from a cave near Raus early today.

Jeremy Leverette, 20, and Tonya Davis, 19, both of Park Trail Apartments, Green Lane, and Brad Pierce, 28, of Camden were found in the cave off John Brinkley Road at 1:30 a.m. by Joanna Valesquez and Brian Bruce of Bedford County Emergency Management Agency's cave rescue team.

Valesquez and Bruce discovered the three within 10 minutes.

The entrance to the cave off John Brinkley Road. (T-G Photo by Bo Melson)

"They were just a little this side of Hell Hole Junction, about 1,500 feet into the cave," Valesquez said.

Leverette said they had just been following trails and going to various rooms, lost track of the time and were not "lost."

Concerned friends called Bedford County Sheriff's Department about 11:30 p.m. Thursday due to the amount of time Leverette, Davis and Pierce had been gone. Friends had gone to the cave and found the explorers' car parked nearby.

Sgt. Josh Tolar and Deputies Jimmy Rhodes and Brad Daugherty went to the cave.

"Brad and I went about 200-300 yards into the cave until it narrowed down so much we would have had to crawl through it," Tolar said. "We shined our lights around and yelled for them but they never answered. We came back out and called for help."

BCEMA, which includes personnel from Bedford County Emergency Medical Service and Volunteer Fire Services Inc., arrived moments later.

The three carried only small flashlights and weren't equipped or dressed for spending hours deep within a cave, Rhodes said.