WILTON — Following his GPS device along Gordon Road heading for Temple, a driver crashed his vehicle into a stream last week and was trapped on top of his truck until rescuers could find him.

Nathan Storey, 27, of Rumford was following his GPS to Temple, police Chief Dennis Brown said. It showed Gordon Road connecting with Temple Road, which it does but only by an ATV trail.

Originally from Oklahoma and driving in the dark, Storey thought the trail was just a dirt road and continued on, Brown said. After last week’s rain a deeper running brook developed along the trail, Brown said. The stream had receded the next day but last Wednesday night it was high enough to completely submerge his Chevrolet truck, he said. Storey was able to crawl out and sit on top of the vehicle until he was found.

Franklin County dispatch center was notified by state police after Storey called for help. Wilton officer Nick Zecher located a four-wheel-drive vehicle and called in the Maine Warden Service and officers from Franklin County to help search for Storey, he said.

Dispatch was able to locate Storey’s vehicle through the GPS on his cell phone,  but it took three hours to find and rescue him through the wooded section, he said.

Storey was not hurt and his vehicle was towed out the next day, but it shows “you can’t automatically assume” that the GPS is right, Brown said.

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