UPDATE: After working for more than nine hours, Catoosa County firefighters along with multiple partners freed a 22-year-old man who was trapped inside a partially clogged storm drain beneath a highway in Fort Oglethorpe, according to a Catoosa County government news release.
(READ FULL UPDATE: Man rescued from drainpipe in Fort Oglethorpe)
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FORT OGLETHORPE — A rescue operation was underway Tuesday evening as emergency workers tried to free a 22-year-old man stuck in a drainage pipe under Highway 27.
About 20 fire, police and public works officials were working at the intersection of Highway 27 near Battlefield Parkway to free the man, Thomas Loher, who officials say is often seen preaching at the intersection.
Loher's mother, Gladys Pineda-Loher, and his stepfather were on the scene, Catoosa County spokesperson John Pless said. Pless said Loher's mother told him she called the police when she found her son's bike in a ditch near the intersection where he usually preaches.
"For whatever reason, we don't know, he got into a culvert and crawled into a pipe that narrows down" to about two feet wide, Pless said.
The pipe was about half filled with silt and rocks, he said at the scene, so county workers were using a vacuum truck and hand tools to clear the debris and free the man. He entered from the north side of the road, Pless said, and crawled most of the way under Highway 27. Pless said he was stuck about a lane and a half from the south side of the road.
Pless said he was unsure if the man was injured or why he decided to climb into the pipe, but he said rescue personnel believed the man had been stuck since Monday. His mother reported the man missing Tuesday morning, he said.
A motorist heard the man screaming for help at about 3 p.m. Tuesday afternoon and called 911, Pless said.
About a dozen fire, police and public works vehicles were on the scene as neighbors and the media gathered.
“Last I heard, they have established contact with the person and he was responding,” Molly Huhn, city manager of Fort Oglethorpe, said by phone.
(READ MORE: Fort Oglethorpe, Georgia, launching new municipal logo as part of new branding)
"The preacher man, he usually stands down there," Brittany Clayton said, gesturing to the northwest corner of Highway 27 and Battlefield Parkway. "He's very kind and sweet and preaches to everybody."
Clayton said she lives within walking distance of the intersection and talks to the preacher often. She was watching the rescue operation with a few neighbors and said it was sad he got stuck.
At about 7 p.m., Pless said it would be a while until the man was freed.
Westbound Highway 27 was still accessible to traffic at the intersection Tuesday evening, but eastbound Highway 27 traffic was blocked and rerouted at Park City Road. Traffic on LaFayette Road was moving normally.
At about 8:30 p.m., Gladys Loher was reached by phone at the scene of the rescue operation.
Her son is committed to spreading the word of God, she said, but she didn't know much about how he got stuck. She said she was doing OK despite the circumstances and would have more to say about her son and his ministry once he was freed from the pipe.
"I think I'll be doing better once they are able to recover my son," Gladys Loher said.
Staff Writer Ellen Gerst contributed to this report.
Contact Andrew Wilkins at awilkins@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6659.