A 75-year-old man who went missing for four days was found alive, stuck in a bog in Maine, after a game warden and his trusty K9 were able to sniff him out.
Michael Altmaier of New Sharon, Maine was headed to a scheduled meeting in Weld on Monday when he was last seen driving his car down Colby Miller Road, the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries & Wildlife wrote in a Saturday release. Altmaier never showed up at the meeting.
After four days with no sign of the 75-year-old, staff at a nearby state park discovered Altmaier’s car at the Mount Blue State Park Scenic Overlook on Thursday night. Mount Blue State Park is just outside Weld, Maine.
At first light the next day, wardens with the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries & Wildlife began their search of the surrounding area for the missing man.
After searching through the morning and midday, Game Warden Kayle Hamilton and Game Warden Ash, who also happens to be a dog, located the missing 75-year-old at 3:45 p.m. He was about 1.2 kilometres away from where his vehicle was found.
Authorities believe Altmaier fell over a ledged embankment and “likely became disoriented” from the fall. He ended up stuck in a bog where he was unable to get up.
Search volunteers and a paramedic rushed to Altmaier’s location and provided first aid. About two hours after the missing man was found, a helicopter was able to land in the bog and Altmaier was airlifted to an awaiting ambulance. The 75-year-old was kept overnight at a local hospital.
Emergency workers were happy to find Altmaier was in “surprisingly good condition despite spending the last 4 days laying in the area of the bog,” Maine officials wrote.
A photo shared by Maine Department of Inland Fisheries & Wildlife shows around seven rescue workers carrying Altmaier’s stretcher through dense bogland towards a waiting helicopter.
The Franklin County Sheriff’s Department, Maine Association for Search and Rescue, Maine Search and Rescue Dogs, Bureau of Parks and Land Staff, Maine Forest Service, NorthStar EMS, and the Weld Fire Department all assisted in the search and rescue of Altmaier, alongside Maine wardens.