Strangers help find young hiker’s lost hearing implants

An act of kindness came in loud and clear for the Frausto family recently as strangers stepped up to help find a vital hearing device that was lost in the Mount Yonah woods.
It all began the weekend of September 16 when  Melinda Frausto asked her family to go on a backpacking trip to the popular North Georgia hiking spot. Though it wasn’t an easy hike, the Frausto family made it to their campsite where they enjoyed s'mores, the sunset, and the sunrise the following day.
“Backpacking with my family to [Mount] Yonah was the best birthday present I could ask for,” said Frausto.
Melinda’s 10-year-old daughter, Gabbie Frausto, left camp to explore, finding an old campfire site from a previous camper. She ran across the center back to their campsite, performing cartwheels and playing near the tall grasses.
Gabbie returned to their camp, and her mother noticed that she was hunkered down. Upon closer inspection, Melinda discovered something was amiss. Gabbie had lost both of her cochlear implants and was desperately searching for them.
Gabbie’s MED-EL Rondo 2 cochlear implants ran up to approximately $10,000 to replace with the newer MED-EL Rondo 3 version at a slightly more affordable price of $8,300. But Melinda was more concerned for her daughter’s safety of not hearing on the trek back to their car.
“When we got the implants, we were told we only got two replacements per lifetime,” the Dahlonega resident explained. “And we had already used one replacement when Gabbie was younger.”
The family, already familiar with the area, searched where Gabbie had been playing. Luckily, Melinda’s niece found one implant, but the family was unsuccessful in finding the other. They astutely marked the location on Google Maps in the hopes they could return and search for the other.
After hours of searching, the Frausto family had to call off their search. The lush, tall grass proved too difficult terrain to find something that fits within the palm of one’s hand. After returning home, Melinda’s close friend, Liz Jones, suggested they should post on Facebook to elicit help.

THE SEARCH IS ON

The cochlear implants had magnets within them, so metal detectors would have a chance locating it even through the tall grass. Skeptical whether they would find help online or not, Melinda agreed to make a post on the North Georgia Hiking & Adventure and the North Georgia Metal Detectors Club Facebook pages as well as planned to inquire if the Rangers could help.
“Working within the childcare industry, I didn’t have a Facebook account for privacy,” Melinda said. “But I made one for Gabbie to share her journey, so I posted on her behalf.”
Melinda had posted on the North Georgia Metal Detectors Club Facebook page. Mike Johns responded to the family’s call, volunteering to help search with his two metal detectors, and Melinda borrowed a third metal detector. So Liz, Melinda, and Mike spent over six hours searching on  a recent Sunday.
Though they were unsuccessful in finding Gabbie’s implant, Johns surprisingly had a similar background to Melinda and Liz in counseling as well as sharing a Christian belief system. So the group had great conversations along the way and enjoyed their time in spite of the circumstances.

CALLING FOR BACKUP

On Sunday, September 18 at 10:39 p.m., Liz had also made a post on the North Georgia Hiking & Adventure Facebook page. Affectionately known as “Aunt Liz,” she explained the Frausto family’s situation, uploading pictures of what the device looked like. Chris Foster saw the post and commented that if they had not found Gabbie’s implant, he would search for it the next day.
“I have three daughters, so I imagined what it’d be like for one of my kids to be having fun, doing cartwheels, and suddenly her world goes silent,” Foster said.
Chris owned a Garrett metal detector and had been in and out of the hobby since 2015. He had 20 years of experience in the U.S. Army, serving in various roles and working his way up in the ranks. A man with a mission, Foster was confident in his capabilities to find Gabbie’s implant.
Melinda provided a map of the Yonah Mountain Summit Meadow, drawing a cone shape to indicate where Gabbie was playing. They even offered to bring Gabbie’s implant so that he could fine-tune the frequency. Instead, he used his digital watch as a reference point, noting how its minimal metal elements were similar to a device like Gabbie’s implant.
Working Friday through Sunday, Foster planned to spend every day that week searching. On that very Monday following the Frausto’s camping trip, he went up by himself. With a strategic approach and helpful information from Melinda, Foster split up the area where Gabbie had lost her implant into fourths. He swept the area in an outward spiral, using flags to mark where he had already covered.
Foster hoped that if he could find Gabbie’s implant, he could save a child from being scared to have fun, always connecting cartwheels to the time she lost a valuable piece of equipment.

FINALLY FOUND

Foster located dozens of metal fragments throughout Monday and searched for almost three hours. With three minutes left before he planned to call it a day, his metal detector went off with a different frequency.
“At that moment, I somehow knew I had found it,” Foster said.
And he had. Foster took a picture as confirmation and then carefully placed Gabbie’s lost implant in his pocket, practically racing back to his car. He immediately contacted the Frausto family to share the good news about his discovery.
Foster and the Fraustos met at a restaurant in Clarksville, where Foster wanted to place the device in no one but the hand of Gabbie’s parents. To his surprise, Foster was greeted by a hug from Gabbie and offered a meal in gratitude.
“I told them [the Frausto family] that I didn’t want any money for finding it,” Foster said. “The adventure had been a reward enough, but the real treasure was meeting the family and having one of my daughters there to experience it with me.”
“It touched our hearts not only from Mike and Chris’ generous kindness but how many people liked and supported our Facebook posts,” Melinda said. “I had no idea we’d get so much traction.”
As a final thank you, Gabbie created a painting for Chris that incorporated his hobbies and love of sailing, beekeeping, and aviation.
“I told the family that if they ever need my services again, I’m a call away,” said Foster.