ALTON, Maine — A 79-year-old hunter who was missing deep in the Penobscot County woods for more than 24 hours was found alive Friday afternoon.
Robert Vadas, who had gone hunting on Thursday morning and did not emerge from the woods, was found by a search team that included Maine Warden Service wardens and volunteers, Lt. Dan Scott said from a command post at the Alton town office.
Scott said Vadas was found shortly before 2 p.m. Vadas had been expected to emerge from the woods between 8:30 and 9 a.m. Thursday, and his hunting party reported him missing later that day after searching for him themselves.
“He’s conscious and alert, but as we would expect, he’s cold and stiff,” Scott said.
The lieutenant added that Vadas was found about a mile into the woods. A vital clue in the search came when a dog found an orange knit cap Vadas had apparently left behind.
Vadas was found about an hour later.
“He [was] a long ways in,” Scott said. “He [was] ready to get out.”
Searchers focused on the area between Tannery Road and Route 16, as Vadas was hunting at a camp in that area.
Rescuers and searchers planned on getting Vadas out of the woods on a backboard, carrying him to where an ambulance was waiting to take him to the hospital, according to Scott.
The lieutenant added that Vadas’ immediate family members had been notified, and Vadas’ son, whose name Scott did not disclose, volunteered in the search.
“He wanted to go into the woods and help out,” Scott said.
Around 60 searchers collaborated in the search efforts, including a helicopter from the Maine Forest Service, an airplane, the Down East Emergency Medical Institute and Maine Search and Rescue Dogs.
Ellie Barker, a DEEMI searcher, said the area in which Vadas was found was damp.
“I think that he’s one tough cookie, it’s a long night and it rained,” Barker said. “He thanked us all for helping out and finding him. “
Officials searched until about 1 a.m. Friday before putting efforts on hold. Scott said pouring rain during the evening hours made efforts challenging. They returned Friday morning, and Scott said they had planned to search for Vadas even after dark.
Vadas is a professor emeritus of botany, oceanography and zoology at the University of Maine.
While Vadas does not have a lot of hunting experience in the Alton area, Scott said his wife describes him as a woodsman who is an avid hunter.
