Becky Keener spoke with Ridgeview News regarding the location and rescue of David Deiter who had been reported missing on Sunday, September 28th, 2025.
Becky reported that she was scared and alone when she found Mr. Deiter along the edge of the field at the bottom of the hillside below Left Fork Road. The sounds she had heard from Mr. Deiter’s house was “like a animal moaning like a dog,” she said, “So I thought I would at least go to the bottom of the right of way road and see if I could hear anything… then I beeped the vehicle a couple times and sat still listening..looking… I heard a noise louder that sounded like it was on left side so I decided to drive along the creek through the field thinking that he could be in the creek… the further I went, I beeped and the louder the noise got…then finally I seen a leg move and I took off, jumped out and ran up to him. I recognized it was Dave who I had been looking for since Sunday and started hollering his name. I asked him what he thought he was doing and told him who I was. I could tell he was confused but he did know who I was and I asked him who my husband was. Dave hollered ‘Philly’ where is he, that’s what he called Phillip. I went on talking to him, he asked if I would help him up, I tried to but as soon as he pulled on my hand he started hollering and crying that he was hurting.”
”Dave asked me not to leave him ‘pleassee’! I said, I wont but I have to go get service to call for help..so I did..then finally I got a bar of service on my phone to call 911, message his niece in Missouri, and call my husband Phillip to come help me and try reach 911 too because I couldn’t get through when I tried …. then I went back to Dave. I waited and kept talking to him, listening to his stories. He was telling me what happened and then I seen ambulance the fire department and a buggy. But still no one came to us and I told him I had to leave to bring help because they can’t find us. I seen my husband and he followed me along with the Fire Department to where Dave was.”
Becky spoke with Mr. Deiter’s doctor who said that “Physically he’s ok other than scratches and dehydration. He said he wasn’t down there for more than a couple of days. Some small spinal fractures in the lumbar region but nothing that will cause trouble. He did say he shouldn’t be driving anymore or living so isolated.”
Mr. Deiter still does not recall the event.
A big thank you for Becky Keener. For taking the time to care about a fellow neighbor and sharing his rescue story with the Ridgeview Readers. Lot’s of prayers going up for continued healing for Dave Deiter.
Big Thank You to Becky. Prayers for a speedy recovery to Dave. Just my opinion on a related matter. I know recent events in the county have been focused on helping victims and protecting the children of the county and the country which is all of our jobs. But all of the county talk that I have seen until this story has forgotten to mention what I feel is maybe the biggest problem in the county and the country. Our seniors and the lack of senior care that is available in the county as well as the state. There are great folks locally whom daily assist a few seniors that have the means to afford some private care, but trying to work through the county and state of WV to get help for seniors has been very disappointing. I’ve been attempting it for the past year and have found out the only entity I can count on is me and my family. There seems to be little to no help for our aging seniors whom make up a great majority of the county and have paid their dues throughout their lifetime. Folks whom worked hard their entire life to barely get by and contributed to the failing system are left with little to no help when they need it the most. In the golden years. The lack of younger workers or workers in general and the number of aging seniors seems to be a no win situation, but that can change. The remote location of the seniors in the county makes it even harder to find dependable care for our elders which turns into a failure on all of us. We need to step up and help out. Respect your elders. Check on your neighbors. Help our your community because it is obvious the failed system isnt going to help. If a few good people could come together, I see a huge potential for business, and workers in the county and surrounding counties to make a difference. If those few good people could create something to benefit seniors without the need to roll in money, (and be dependant on the system helping) Calhoun could be a model for the state and maybe the country. The system is all about profit and not about the customer. Most likely the reason it is a failure. I realize with medical assistance, breaking free from the failed system will be almost impossible, but if those few good people could help without being greedy, there could be success. Greed in the system is the main reason for failure in my opinion. Everyone wants to line their pockets and not do what is morally right. We owe it to our elders to do better than we are. We owe it to our children to do better right now and change so they dont have to take care of us. We need to take care of ourselves as well as our family and community. But you can start that after you read this. Today. Put down the phone, delete your Fakebook account and start taking care of things. If everyone could do that, change would start happening immediately. Let’s do this. If I can assist, feel free to contact me directly. Enjoy the day and do something good.
You are so very correct Mr. Firestine and I always appreciate your wisdom. As much as I even agree with your suggestion to get rid of Facebook/Fakebook, that too is a tool that could be used to keep in contact with some tech savvy seniors. As a caretaker of my Momma, I’m grateful for the opportunity to live where I can watch and stay with her and we have a helper (Miss Claire) who gives us assistance as well. But I realize that’s not the case with everyone. And even though Dave’s story ended well, it could have just as easily not ended well. We as a community need to make a concerted effort to check on our neighbors, especially with winter nearly on us. I’m trying to get my head on straight with Ridgeview to encourage people to use Ridgeview as a community resource of information. There are so many programs and opportunities for people, but I don’t know about them most of the time. Ridgeview is free to anyone wanting to get non-commercial information out to the people. But very few people contact me and ask to put up information. I have reached out to both the hospital and the schools requesting they send information to me, to no avail. They tell me to find it myself. We need to do better with letting our community know whats going on and what’s available. Sorry for the rant… thanks for caring!
I understand using it as a tool for communication. But you dont need your toolbox on you 24/7. Cutting back on screen time is a great first step. West Virginia offers so much more than screen time. So does little Calhoun County. Simply talking to each other would be a great second step. I agree that the community needs to be more involved with Ridgeview. Regardless of what political views you may have. I rely on Ridgeview News daily as well as the Hur Herald. Both resources are great tools to have in the toolbox. I will discuss using Ridgeview more often with the Mt Zion PSD at our board meeting Monday. I know the PSD has a Fakebook account that is utilized by some residents and our office does a good job of sharing what we are doing that may effect customers, but we will start using Ridgeview as well. Thanks for keeping us informed. Have a great day.
Thank you so much!