Motorcyclist recovering after harrowing ordeal in the woods

Justin Hipple left his job at Carmax in Fredericksburg on Thursday night.

No one saw or heard from him again until his brother Tony  Hipple found him about 20 hours later, injured from a motorcycle crash and 50 yards in the woods near the intersection of Dumfries and Bristow roads.

According to the injured biker’s former roommate Julie Mason, Hipple was knocked unconscious  in the  wreck and woke to find himself injured in the woods.

“When he woke up he knew that something was wrong with his back and that he shouldn’t move that much,” said Mason, who got the details of Justin Hipple’s ordeal from family members and friends.

Justin Hipple couldn’t call for help because his phone was  out of  reach.

“His cellphone was next to him. He could see it, but it was in two separate pieces,” Mason said. “He literally tried, with a stick in his hand, for the next 20 hours, in and out, to get both pieces and put it together.”

When he retrieved the phone and managed to reassemble it, Justin Hipple’s first thought was to call his brother, Mason said.

The motorcycle that the  29-year-old Prince William resident was riding  was Tony’s  and Justin wanted to tell Tony that  he was sorry for wrecking it, Mason said.

Tony Hipple immediately called 911 and raced out to look for his brother.

Police records show that they  received Tony Hipple’s call at about 9:30 p.m. Friday.

Tony Hipple arrived at the wreck scene and found his brother in the woods a couple of minutes before police and rescue arrived, Mason said.

Justin Hipple was flown to Inova Fairfax where he underwent surgery for a collapsed lung, several broken ribs and other injuries, Mason said.

Tony first missed his brother Thursday night when he didn’t come home from work.

He became truly concerned that Justin was in trouble when one of Justin’s friends showed up at the Hipple’s house on Bristow Road  Friday morning  expecting to carpool to work with Justin, Mason said.

At that point Tony Hipple and his sister Nhique Hipple went looking for their brother along the routes he might have taken home from work, Mason said.

They didn’t find him until they received the phone call from Justin later Friday night.

In the intervening time Tony Hipple called police, but was told that adults had to be missing for 24 hours before police would initiate a search, Mason said.

Justin Hipple believes he fell asleep on the way home, Mason said.

After further surgery for complications, Justin Hipple was in stable condition midday Wednesday.

Senior reporter Keith Walker can be reached at 703-369-6751.