GRAFTON TOWNSHIP — The Maine Warden Service located a 15-year-old backpacker Saturday afternoon after he went missing earlier in the day, according to officials.
Nathan Beckman of Scarsdale, New York, was on a trip with Overland Summers, a youth outdoor group out of Williamstown, Massachusetts, according to Mark Latti, spokesman for Maine Department of Inland Fisheries & Wildlife.
Nathan Beckman, 15, of Scarsdale, New York, was found Saturday afternoon after he went missing earlier in the day from a campsite near Grafton Township in Oxford County. Submitted photo
The group was hiking the Grafton Loop Trail in Oxford County and had camped at the Bull Brook Campsite.
Trip leaders said they heard Beckman leave his tent at about 3:15 a.m. They then heard yelling in the distance and began searching for Beckman when he did not return to his tent, Latti said.
Trip leaders called 911 at about 5 a.m. when they could no longer hear Beckman.
About 15 game wardens, including ground teams and a search and rescue dog, and 40 people from search and rescue teams from across Maine responded to the scene and searched the southern slopes of Old Speck and Slide mountains, Latti said.
Searchers also used a helicopter and a drone to search from the air and all-terrain vehicles to bring searchers to remote areas.
Game Warden Preston Pomerleau and his canine partner, Gordon, found Beckman’s jacket and a hiking boot before hearing distance yelling at abut 3:10 p.m.
Pomerleau and Gordon located Beckman as the boy was moving through a previously searched area of the woods, on a steep mountainside, and trying to find his way back to camp.
Latti said Beckman was in good health, did not need medical attention and was able to hike back out with the help of searchers. Beckman was reunited with his group in Bethel.
The Newry Fire Department, the Mahoosuc Mountain Rescue Team, Franklin Search & Rescue, the Wilderness Rescue Team, Maine Search & Rescue Dogs, Maine Mounted Search & Rescue, Southern Maine Law Dogs, the Maine Forest Service and the Bethel Fire Department assisted in the search.
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