Missing senior with dementia found safe in North Hudson

From NYS Department of Environmental Conservation’s weekly forest ranger report:

Town of North Hudson 

Essex County, Wilderness Search: On March 18 at 12:30 p.m., Forest Ranger Quinn responded to a report of a missing person with dementia. Cell phone coordinates placed the missing 79-year-old from Schuylerville on a seasonal portion of Johnson Pond Road in the Hammond Pond Wild Forest. At 1:30 p.m., Ranger Quinn, Environmental Conservation Police Officers (ECOs) McCarthy and Nicols, and New York State Police (NYSP) personnel located the subject approximately one mile down the seasonal unplowed road. He was inside his vehicle unharmed, but the vehicle was stuck in a ditch. The North Hudson Fire Department transported the subject via UTV to NYSP to provide a courtesy ride back home. Resources were clear at 4 p.m. 

Be sure to properly prepare and plan before entering the backcountry. Visit DEC’s Hike Smart NY, Adirondack Backcountry Information, and Catskill Backcountry Information webpages for more information.

If a person needs a Forest Ranger, whether it’s for a search and rescue, to report a wildfire, or to report illegal activity on state lands and easements, they should call 833-NYS-RANGERS. If a person needs urgent assistance, they can call 911. To contact a Forest Ranger for information about a specific location, the DEC website has phone numbers for every Ranger listed by region: http://on.ny.gov/NYSForestRangerRoster