LEAGUE CITY, Texas – The fiancée of a man found clinging to life at the bottom of a manhole said she never gave up hope that he’d be found alive.
“I just knew he was there,” said Esther Foster. “I just knew he was.”
Volunteers with Texas EquuSearch on Monday found the 25-year-old man who’d been trapped in a manhole since Saturday.
Kevin Gonterman disappeared around 4:30 p.m. Saturday, after a fight with his fiancée. When he didn’t return on Sunday, the fiancée and his mother called police and Texas EquuSearch.
“I told them he was probably in the woods because that’s where he ran after our fight,” Foster said.
While League City investigators worked the case, volunteers with Texas EquuSearch started combing the woods near Gonterman’s home at the Harbor Walk Apartments.
On Monday, searchers noticed an open manhole in a field across the street from Clear Creek High School, near FM 518. The manhole’s cover was moved off.
When they looked inside, they found Gonterman, 25-feet down in the hole.
Rescue crews came out and extracted him from the hole.
Gonterman was loaded onto an ambulance and rushed to Memorial Hermann for treatment.
"He’s very fortunate that he was found and now he’s got a good chance at survival," said Frank Black with Texas EquuSearch.
“He’s covered with cuts from his head to his toe, but he’s very grateful to be alive,” Foster said.
