BATON ROUGE - A man and his dog were rescued on the river Monday morning after losing their way in the woods Sunday evening.

The St. George Fire Department responded to reports of a suspicious individual in distress near the Amite River just after midnight on Monday.

Neighbors told officials they were sleeping when a bright light flashed into their windows. After investigating where the beam of light was coming from, they quickly realized someone needed help across the river.

Fire officials say the victim was following his dog that ran away when he got lost in the woods at least eight hours prior. To get to the stranded pair, the St. George Fire Department says crews had to use rescue boats.

Despite low temperatures overnight, paramedics said both the man and his dog were determined to be in stable condition and did not go to the hospital for further examination.