Becida man rescued after 17-hour search

A Becida man was successfully rescued after a 17-hour search near the Lasalle Lake area.

According to a release from the Hubbard County Sheriff’s Office, deputies received a report of a man lost in the woods Sunday night around 8 p.m.

Sixty-seven-year-old Philip Thorson was walking in the woods with his friend and his dog when he fell ill, two miles away from their vehicle.

The friend continued on to the truck without Thorson, but when the friend returned, Thorson was gone from the last known location.

The search continued with law enforcement but called off around 3 a.m. Monday, and he was found around 1 p.m.

Thorson reported he fell into the Mississippi River but huddled with his dog all night to stay warm.

He was met with a Bemidji Ambulance, who determined he suffered some minor frostbite and then transported to his residence.


Larissa Donovan was the News Director for the stations of Paul Bunyan Broadcasting and has been, almost without interruption, since Election Day 2016, through July 2023. She covered all the beats in north-central Minnesota, such as local government, crime, education, environment and social issues. She studied communications at Bemidji State University. You can follow along with Larissa's live tweets of meetings and events on Twitter!


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