Missing boy and other rescues

[Greg]

Wow. A busy few days in the Whites - Source:

Originally Posted by boston.com

10-year-old Massachusetts boy missing in New Hampshire
By Associated Press, 10/14/2003 12:52

LINCOLN, N.H. (AP) Authorities continued their search Tuesday for a 10-year-old Massachusetts boy missing overnight after he decided to walk home through the woods by himself.

Fish and Game officers said Patric McCarthy of Bourne, Mass., decided to return to his family's condo near Loon Mountain ski area after playing with his brothers, but did not arrive Monday evening.

His family looked for him, then called Lincoln police. State police and National Guard helicopters, canine units, local and state police and firefighters and volunteer search and rescue groups helped Fish and Game officers search through the night.

By late morning Tuesday, there was no sign of him, a Fish and Game official said.

Patric is described as 4-foot-10, 85 pounds and blond. His family is staying at the Clear Brook condo complex on the Kancamagus Highway, across from the ski area.

Fish and Game Lt. Todd Bogardus said there's no reason to suspect foul play at this time.

The end of the Columbus Day weekend was a busy time for search and rescue crews.

Crews worked through the night Monday to carry out an injured hiker who fell 50 to 80 feet in Tuckerman Ravine on Mount Washington. That hiker's companion also had to be rescued from a ledge in the ravine. On nearby Mount Jefferson, another hiker had to be rescued late Monday; in Franconia, near where the Old Man of the Mountain once stood, a Massachusetts rockclimber spent the night on the cliff after becoming too tired to continue.

On Mount Washington, Anthony Valenti, 38, of Woodbury, Conn., and Elke Bengston, 28, of Franklin, Mass., were hiking down the Tuckerman Ravine Trail when the two got off the trail near the Headwall, a cliff area with waterfalls, said Fish and Game Lt. Douglas Gralenski.

Valenti fell at about 3:30 p.m., Gralenski said.

Bengston, who was stranded on a ledge, yelled to hikers on a nearby trail, who alerted officials.

Fish and Game officers and volunteers from the Appalachian Mountain Club and Mountain Search and Rescue team rescued the two.

''It was a technical rescue, meaning it required ropes and harnesses,'' Gralenski said.

Valenti was carried out to Pinkham Notch at about 5:30 a.m. Tuesday. He was taken to the hospital with a crushed foot and a possible broken pelvis, Gralenski said. He was in stable condition at Memorial Hospital at midday Tuesday, a hospital spokeswoman said.

Bengston was uninjured.

On Tuesday, volunteers from the Mountain Search and Rescue team were helping bring down a rock climber who spent the night on Cannon Cliffs, a popular rock climbing area.

Dave Grosser, 50, of Cambridge, Mass., was climbing the Lakeview climbing route with a partner when he became too tired to continue, Fish and Game Lt. Todd Bogardus said.

''He secured himself and made himself as comfortable as he could and his partner summitted and came down and requested help,'' Bogardus said.

At midday Tuesday, Bogardus said the volunteer rescue group had reached Grosser and was having no difficulty bringing him off the cliff.

Officials had few details on the rescue on a woman from the Caps Ridge Trail on Mount Jefferson on Monday. Gralenski said the woman was brought down from the trail at about 11:30 p.m. by Fish and Game officials and volunteers from the Androscoggin Valley Search and Rescue team.

''There wasn't an officer in the northern part of the state who got a decent night's sleep,'' he said Tuesday. ''Saturday and Sunday were quiet, but Monday made up for it.''

[Greg]

Update - Source:

Originally Posted by metrowestdailynews.com

Associated Press
Wednesday, October 15, 2003

LINCOLN, N.H. -- More than 250 searchers, including volunteers, combed through woods near a condominium complex yesterday looking for a 10-year-old Massachusetts boy missing for more than 36 hours.

Authorities said police and fire department members and other professionals would search through the night, while volunteers would head into the woods again this morning.

Though concerns were growing about Patric McCarthy's safety, dispatcher Amy Halliday said the official focus was unchanged yesterday evening.

"I think we're still aiming for he's lost in the woods," she said.

In a plea to the searchers, Steve McCarthy of Bourne, the boy's distraught father, said, "We just want everyone to look everywhere."

Fish and Game officers were in charge and more than 150 volunteers were helping. Halliday said virtually her entire department was searching as were the Lincoln Fire Department, state police, other police departments, the state police SWAT team and Linwood Ambulance personnel.

"He's scared," his stepmother, Margaret McCarthy, said. "I know they're going to find him. Patric, I love him like he's my own," she said.

The search included National Guard helicopters and search dogs and continued through last night.

Patric was last seen about 1:30 Monday afternoon. His family said he was playing with his brothers and decided to head alone through the woods to the family condo. The blond, 85-pound boy and his family were staying at the Clear Brook condo complex on the Kancamagus Highway, across from Loon Mountain ski area.

Fish and Game Lt. Todd Bogardus said there was no reason to suspect foul play.

Volunteer searchers came from as far as Manchester, where a dozen police officers headed to Lincoln when their shift ended yeterday afternoon.

"All these guys have kids and we certainly can all relate to something like that," said Manchester Sgt. Jim Soucy.

Columbus Day weekend, traditionally the busiest weekend for foliage watching, was a busy time for search and rescue crews throughout the mountains.

Crews worked through the night Monday to carry out an injured hiker who fell 50 to 80 feet in Tuckerman Ravine on Mount Washington. A companion also had to be rescued.

Yesterday, volunteers from Mountain Rescue Service helped bring down a rock climber who spent the night on Cannon Cliffs, a popular rock climbing area.

Dave Grosser, 50, of Cambridge, Mass., was climbing the Lakeview climbing route with a partner on Monday when he became too tired to continue, Bogardus said.

"He secured himself and made himself as comfortable as he could and his partner summitted and came down and requested help," Bogardus said.

Officials had few details on the rescue of a woman from the Caps Ridge Trail on Mount Jefferson on Monday. Gralenski said the woman was brought down from the trail at about 11:30 p.m. by Fish and Game officials and volunteers from the Androscoggin Valley Search and Rescue team.

"There wasn't an officer in the northern part of the state who got a decent night's sleep," Gralenski said Tuesday. "Saturday and Sunday were quiet, but Monday made up for it."

[Greg]

Source

Originally Posted by theunionleader.com

LINCOLN — In torrential rain and lashing winds, close to 500 people spent the day searching deep into the White Mountain National Forest yesterday for a 10-year-old boy missing since Monday.

Despite the exhaustive efforts, Patric McCarthy of Bourne, Mass., was still missing last night. There were no new clues to his disappearance.

The boy’s father, Steve McCarthy, thanked those who had come to help and tearfully asked for people to “pray for Patric.”

“I hope everyone will keep looking ‘til we find Patric,” said McCarthy, who also joined in the search.

As the wind kicked up and the mercury dove last night into the 40s, volunteers exited the woods. Professional rescue units and air scent dog teams moved in, fanning out over a 20-square-mile area. The weather grounded a Massachusetts state police helicopter with infrared radar, but searchers on the ground used night-vision goggles.

When the rain lifted at midday yesterday, an Army National Guard Black Hawk helicopter hovered over the area McCarthy was last seen playing in the woods between two condominium complexes about 1:30 p.m. Monday.

“The weather is a big concern of ours,” said Fish and Game Lt. Marty Garabedian, “but we remain hopeful and optimistic.”

Meanwhile, State Police Major Crimes Unit investigators were on the scene. They interviewed the two step-brothers who had last seen Patric. State Police Lt. John Scarinza said there is no evidence to suggest that the boy is a victim of foul play, but said police are not discounting other possibilities.

“We are still are working under the idea that Patric is somewhere lost in the woods behind the condos where he stayed this weekend . . . but we want to be as proactive as we can.”

He requested anyone who had been at the Village at Loon, Clear Brook I and Clear Brook II condominiums Monday to contact State Police if they had seen a boy matching McCarthy’s description, or if they had seen anything that might be considered important in the investigation.

The boy was last known to be playing with his two step-brothers, Gabe Fritz, 13, and Noah Fritz, 7, in the woods and in the Clear Brook area. The boys told authorities that Patric ran home ahead of them but was not there when they got home.

Their parents, Steve and Margaret McCarthy, were packing to leave, Scarinza said. Patric never returned home.

He confirmed the boys were engaged in “horseplay” in and around the brook. Patric may have been wet when he was last seen, he said.

Scarinza cautioned people not to read anything into that “other than boys just being boys,” and said he does not believe Patric left following an altercation.

Fish and Game Conservation Officers, units from Manchester Police and volunteers with air scent dogs, spent much of a blustery Tuesday night and yesterday morning focusing on 2,684-foot Potash Knob, about a mile from the condominium complexes. It was there that a hiker reported seeing a small set of footprints.

Tuesday night, Garabedian called it the “only and best clue.” But officers located the tracks yesterday and determined they were not likely Patric’s.

The search yesterday focused on an area bordered by the Kancamagus Highway, the Pemigewasset River and Routes 93 and 3. Busloads of volunteers were deployed to the Old Osseo Trail, Whaleback Mountain, along the Lincoln Woods and Wilderness trails, and in the direct vicinity of the condo units.

Jay Alosa of Concord and Cullin Wible of Canterbury were prepared for the elements as they signed up for the search yesterday morning.

“I asked myself, ‘What am I doing that is so important that I shouldn’t be here?” Alosa said.

Authorities said more than 370 were accepted as volunteers for the search yesterday, but more than 100 had to be turned away because they did not have full rain gear or proper footwear.

Contributions of food, drink, warm clothing and dry towels were available from the American Red Cross and local restaurants, organizations and individuals.

Kristin Corbeil of Lincoln was pushing a baby carriage with 2-year-old son, Jack, into the Governor Adams Lodge at Loon, with her 9-year-old daughter Olivia carrying basket containing 50 sandwiches they had made for volunteers.

“We wanted to do something, but we couldn’t hike,” Corbeil said.

Encore Thrift Store in Lincoln donated warm dry shirts. The Common Man restaurant provided warm chili.

Garabedian encouraged those who would like to help search today to come to the Gov. Adams Lodge by 8 a.m. today and to be dressed for a full-day hike in the elements.

Katya Maiser, executive director of the Lincoln-Woodstock Chamber of Commerce, said that food donations are needed to help feed the volunteers. Donations can be brought to Loon Mountain’s Governor’s Lodge.

[Greg]

An extremely sad ending here. My thoughts and prayers go out to Patric's family.

Source

Originally Posted by www.wildlife.state.nh.us

Body of Missing Child Found

CONCORD, N.H. -- The search for 10-year-old Patric "J.J." McCarthy, of Bourne, Massachusetts, ended on a somber note today when his body was discovered in the wilderness area near the Village at Loon Condominiums in Lincoln, New Hampshire. The boy had been missing since the afternoon of Monday, Oct. 13, when he was last seen playing in a wooded area near the condominiums. The boy's body was found by an advance rapid-response search-and-rescue team made up of New Hampshire Fish and Game Conservation Officers and volunteers from Androscoggin Valley Search and Rescue. An investigation continues as to the details of the cause of the boy's death.

The boy's body was located approximately 2 1/4 miles from where he was last seen. The body was found in the Clear Brook drainage, away from the brook, in extremely thick cover.

"We are deeply saddened that the search ended in this way," said Col. Jeffrey Gray, Chief of Fish and Game Law Enforcement. "Our hearts go out to Patric's family and his community."

The search effort, coordinated by the New Hampshire Fish and Game Department and New Hampshire State Police, involved dozens of search-and-rescue professionals and more than 500 volunteers combing the mountainous terrain behind the condominiums. The search continued 24 hours a day, with several specially equipped teams searching throughout the nighttime hours. Search-and-rescue personnel from all across New England pitched in on the effort.

"I want to express my appreciation for the determined efforts of the corps of volunteers that helped in the effort to find Patric," said Gray. "Never before has the state had this many searchers looking for a lost child. The local community has been exceptionally generous and helpful in providing food and lodging for the hundreds of search volunteers that came to help out."

In all, more than 500 volunteer searchers each day assisted dozens of rescue professionals in the effort. A variety of fast-response teams, coordinated ground-search teams, three canine units, the New Hampshire National Guard Blackhawk Helicopter and personnel from the New Hampshire, Vermont and Massachusetts National Guard were involved in the search. In addition to a large number of volunteers, participants included representatives from New Hampshire Fish and Game, the New Hampshire State Police, Army National Guard, the U.S. Forest Service, five different New England Canine Search and Rescue teams and three State Police canine units, Androscoggin Valley Search and Rescue, the Upper Valley Rescue Squad, Mountain Rescue Service, Lincoln Police and Fire Departments, Woodstock Fire Department and the Seacoast Response Team. Many Massachusetts organizations joined in the effort as well, including a Massachusetts Mounted Search Unit, Berkshire Mountain Search and Rescue, Massachusetts State Police and police and fire department personnel from Bourne.