A 65-year-old man who went missing after his SUV ended up in Kennedy Pond has been found alive, family members said Wednesday morning.

At 4:54 p.m. Tuesday, deputies were notified of a possible missing person. The family of William Alvin "Hank" Dutton, 65, indicated that he had left his home in the 6000 block of Georgia Highway 46 in a white Mazda Navajo SUV, Sheriff Lynn Anderson said in a news release issued Tuesday night.

On Wednesday morning, family members told the Statesboro Herald that Dutton was alive, dehydrated, in the area of Meinhardt Vineyards.

Family members indicated Tuesday afternoon that Dutton called them and said his vehicle had become stuck in "some body of water" and requested help getting out, Anderson said.

The family thought he was located near Kennedy Pond on Highway 46 but was unsure of his exact location. Shortly thereafter, the family lost contact with Dutton, Anderson said.

According to his wife, Sylvia Dutton, employees of SD Properties put Freon in Hank's vehicle and he went for a test drive to see how the air-conditioning worked. He called Ronald Morris, employee, around 3:15 p.m., saying he was in a mud hole and needed the skidder to pull him out.

Morris and he communicated a few more times with Morris trying to determine where Dutton was. Dutton said he could see the Smithfield Golf Club from his location. At one point, Dutton called his wife and told her he had been looking for a place to go fishing, and that was why he was off road, she said.

At around 4 p.m., Morris connected with Dutton by phone and heard water rushing in the background. Sylvia Dutton said her husband told Morris there was about a foot of water in the vehicle at the time. After that, neither was able to reach him by phone.

Hank Dutton was crushed in a work-related accident in Atlanta more than 20 years ago. He lives less than a mile from Kennedy Pond on Highway 46, where he raises horses and miniature Zebu cattle. He owns and operates See Pines and Seabrook apartment complexes off U.S. Highway 80 East and formerly owned Haulin' Tail Motorsports on U.S. Highway 301 South.

He is disabled, walks with a cane and has suffered health problems for several years.

Sylvia Dutton said her husband's cellphone was "pinged" at about 50-60 feet into the pond but the signal could reach up to 2 miles.

Deputies and investigators responded to the area, along with a helicopter, and searched for four hours. Bulloch County firefighters assisted in the search.

The area around Kennedy Pond is heavily wooded and swampy from the recent rains, with some small trails being inaccessible by patrol vehicles.

Deputies continued to ride the area after dark, with additional helicopter and ATVs allotted to resume the search at first light Wednesday with fresh deputies, Anderson said.