The men, using four wheelers and on foot, are very familiar with the Hawkins County wilderness. Carpenter said they were very close to the barn where they located Simpson and Carlie the day before, but had moved on because they didn't see any tire tracks.
But he said something urged them to go back, and Carpenter credited God.
"He gave us a clue," he said. "Thank God we went back there."
They returned to the Gravelly Valley area Thursday around 1 pm, to search again. Within hours, they found what they, and many others, had been looking for.
Carpenter won't take credit. "I'm no hero," he told 10News. "I'm an old country boy, raise cattle."