Man trapped in hole safe and healthy; bottle hunters find buried treasure in hole

WILMINGTON, NC (WWAY) — Patrick Barnes was about nine feet deep digging for historic glass bottles Wednesday night in the backyard of a home in Downtown Wilmington when the side of the hole caved in on him.

It took more than two hours for rescuers to get Barnes back on solid ground. Barnes was taken to New Hanover Regional Medical Center and was later released.

Barnes and a few friends returned back to the hole Thursday to fill it in, saying they don’t like to leave a mess behind when they’re treasure hunting. Barnes’ friends say they found numerous glass bottles in the ground where the old outhouse was, including one bottle worth $2,000. They say despite the incident, this probably won’t be the last time they go digging for treasure.