After days of searching and countless prayers across Arizona, Mike Johnson was found on Aug 30. We have an update on his recovery and story.
Mike Johnson, who has battled Parkinson’s disease for more than 20 years, went missing earlier in the week, sparking a massive search effort supported by family, friends, the Heber/Overgaard community, citizens of Navajo County, and Law Enforcement.
Last Saturday, around 8:00 am, hunter Kyle Weber, who has ties to Heber-Overgaard, spotted Johnson’s side-by-side vehicle high-centered in a shallow ravine around Walnut Canyon. Remarkably, Weber’s wife told him about the missing man just ten minutes earlier. Within minutes of hearing the news, Weber came across the blue side-by-side, leading Navajo County Search and Rescue and a DPS helicopter to Johnson’s vehicle.
A Department of Public Safety helicopter crew spotted Johnson’s side-by-side after Weber’s discovery and his 911 call. Search teams spread out from the side-by-side and found Johnson about a mile from his vehicle. He was air-lifted to the Heber Fire station, then to a hospital in Flagstaff, where he was placed on a feeding tube and received life-saving care.
When Johnson was found, he was in critical condition and unconscious.
Johnson’s faith in the power of prayer, his resilience as an avid hunter and outdoorsman, and his will to live kept him alive for three days in some of the most rugged country in Arizona.
In a touching sign of recovery, Johnson has been taken off the feeding tube. The very first thing he asked for was a Pepsi, and on Saturday, he got it. With a smile and a thumbs-up from his hospital bed, he lifted the cup, showing his determination and humor remained unshaken.
“The hunting community and the residents of Heber/Overgaard and Navajo County truly had his back,” the family said. “The search efforts and prayers show the community of Heber/Overgaard will come together in a time of need.”
You can donate to Mike Johnson’s GoFundMe
We are still working with Mike Johnson, his wife Leslie, and their family to fill in the missing pieces to this story. We will have the whole story when Mike Johnson recovers.
Kathy Gibson Boatman
