Updated: May 13, 2019 at 7:33 p.m.
Updated: May 13, 2019 at 10:10 a.m.
Arun Anand ’19, who was missing on Mount Moosilauke since Saturday, has been located alive and is being brought off of the mountain, according to New Hampshire Fish and Game chief of law enforcement Kevin Jordan.
At about 9:30 a.m., Anand was located by a team of Fish and Game officers doing a line search, according to Jordan. He said that Anand was found without shoes, and was likely hypothermic after spending two nights outdoors in the cold. A press release from the Fish and Game department states that Anand was found hiking down the Gorge Brook trail near the mountain.
Jordan said that he was told Anand, who was not familiar with hiking, had split from the group at around 8:30 a.m. on Saturday because he did not feel he was prepared. The group encountered winter conditions, and Jordan said that the group instructed Anand to head down the trail. New Hampshire Fish and Game was notified that he was missing around 9 p.m. Saturday, according to Jordan.
Anand, 21, a native of Collegeville, PA, was participating in a College-sponsored hike and failed to arrive back at the Moosilauke Ravine Lodge. Upon being located by the rescue team, Anand was provided with food, water, warm clothing and hiking boots, and then rescuers helped him hike the approximately one mile to the lodge. EMS personnel assessed Anand, and then he was taken to Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center for precautionary reasons.
A search in the area began Saturday night. That search and rescue team consisted of New Hampshire conservation officers, volunteers from Pemigewasset Valley Search and Rescue, New England K-9 Search & Rescue and Upper Valley Wilderness Response Team.
The operation was then aided by aerial searches from a Dartmouth-Hitchcock Advanced Response Team helicopter and an Army National Guard Blackhawk helicopter, as well as a team of several Dartmouth students and the Lakes Region Search and Rescue Team. Around 50 individuals have been involved in the search team. The press release stated that rescuers encountered deep snow, dense understory and steep terrain during the search.
This story will continue to be updated as more information becomes available.
