ROCKLAND – Members of the Waldo County Search and Rescue unit practiced their training in the Camden Hills Saturday, August 5. In real life, Camden firefighters are called there frequently, according to Secretary/Public Information Officer Mary Hauprich. So why not give nearby searchers a drill, as well?

The overall mission for this group of certified searchers, who respond to throughout Maine, was to find people. Yet, based on these modern times, retrieving the missing comes with added loops and wiggles.

During Saturday’s drill, a team of eight searchers, a team of nine, and three Waldo County radio communicators learned of two college students hanging around overnight in the Hills without the knowledge of park authorities. No names, descriptions, or details were provided except that they had not been located. The assumptions by searchers: perhaps alcohol, perhaps drugs.

So, off they went, these volunteers of varied background. Among them, one payroll clerk from Bangor and one nurse from the prison. All are outdoor enthusiasts trained in CPR, starting camp fires, following compasses, and tagging evidence. Today, in their line search for the students, they photographed and GPS’d one ice tea bottle, one tiny alcohol jar, one pair of sunglasses, and one plastic bag of cigarettes. Only the cigarettes had been planted. 

And then, a sighting. One college-age male on the ground, far beyond any path. Initially he writhed in pain, his arm broken. Another alcohol jar nearby.

The first searcher on scene approached; the loaded gun riding in the victim’s rear waist band removed.

A full discussion ensued. How do rescuers handle a loaded gun? Do they touch it, adding their own fingerprints? Do they kick it away, risking discharge? Do they leave it, risking everything?

With no correct answer, representatives of Waldo County Search and Rescue, Inland Fisheries and Wildlife, and Waldo County RACES (radio) team agreed to keep themselves safe, as they already do when avoiding poison ivy, treacherous paths, or prickly bushes. Don’t increase the number of victims.

Simultaneous to the first person being found, a member of the other team, searching in a different spot, heard a call for help. Following the voice, the team encountered a crazy lady. A cat-loving, deranged woman (who asked for popcorn; a rescuer said he’d get her some) becoming angrier with searchers for entering “her house.”

“Get out of my house,” she told them. But they didn’t leave, for she had a young man tied to a tree. He too, had mistakenly entered her “house.”

The antagonist and her hostage were soon escorted back to command post.

The day’s work was easy compared to some real-life searches: 

The old woman who didn’t like people. Searchers finally found her after five days since every time she saw a person, she’d bolt.

The man who didn’t want to be found.

“Your wife is at the hospital, worried about you,” the searcher told him. “I hear you’ve been married 64 years.”

“Yes,” he responded. “Sixty-four looonngg years.”

The hikers at Mt. Kahtadin who fall in remote spots, requiring searchers to climb, crawl, camp, carry, and then clear cut helicopter pads.

The meth labs complete with booby traps, bear traps, guns, desperation.

The photos of candy wrappers that lead the photographer to court for he’d unknowingly evidenced proof of murder.

The family members of victims who search alongside the trained, only to find their loved ones cold and departed.

Yet, these volunteers continue to fill their packs with survival gear. Their phones and batteries are always charged and ready for that call, anywhere in the northern part of the state.

They love the outdoors, and they love the reward of a good outcome.

See our previous articles

Maine Search and Rescue member and dog locate missing Belfast man overnight

Waldo County Search and Rescue hosts annual training conference in Hope

Eva Murray: Search and Rescue

Waldo County Search and Rescue: A dedicated effort to find people, clues, evidence

Sarah Thompson can be reached at news@penbaypilot.com