HOMOSASSA, Fla. — It all started with a routine traffic stop outside a Homosassa Walmart and ended with a report of "strange noises" coming from the woods that likely saved one Citrus County woman's life.
Diane Mcinnis had been missing for more than a week. Deputies with the Citrus County Sheriff's Office completed exhaustive searches with K9's, air support and volunteer search parties, but it was two Walmart employees who, unbeknownst to them, alerted deputies to her whereabouts.
Sgt. Callahan at the sheriff's office was alerted to the noises and after conducting a traffic stop, he began to investigate. That's when he heard the faint call of a woman's voice coming from the wooded area by the store.
Where did the voice lead? A five-foot deep ravine, where Mcinnis was stuck.
Callahan came to her aid and called for emergency medical services. Mcinnis was evaluated by EMS before being taken to a local medical facility.
“Our citizens are amazing and if not for these two employees following their instincts and reporting suspicious noises, this case would have ended much differently,” Citrus County Sheriff Mike Prendergast said. “I could not be more proud of the deputies, detectives, and volunteers who spent hundreds of cumulative hours searching for Ms. Mcinnis.”
The sheriff's office also shared their gratitude to Callahan whose actions "served as a shining example of service above self."
"Together, our community saved Ms. Diane Mcinnis’s life," the sheriff's office wrote.
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