A Limestone man was found safe after he spent the night of July 4 lost in woods near Trafton Lake, the Maine Warden Service said Monday.
Michael Labreck, 70, was taken to Cary Medical Center in nearby Caribou because he was to be in the early stages of hypothermia, said Mark Latti, communications director for the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife.
Wardens were notified shortly after midnight on Sunday that a vehicle with an empty boat trailer had been parked at Limestone’s Trafton Lake boat landing since early on Saturday. No one had seen the operator or the boat.
Warden Ed Christie found the boat anchored to shore about a mile from the landing at around 2:45 a.m. Sunday, Latti said. No one had reported Labreck missing.
Christie and Sgt. Adrian Marquis visited the landing later that morning and discovered the vehicle and trailer hadn’t been moved and the boat was still anchored where it had been, Latti said.
Wardens Ryan Fitzpatrick, James Gushee and Megan Seeley, along with handler Kayle Hamilton and police dog Ash, joined the search. The group combed the area, along with forest ranger drone pilots and watercraft.
After a nearby camper reported seeing an elderly man the night before, Hamilton found Labreck.
Labreck said his watercraft experienced mechanical issues, and as he tried to return to his vehicle he got turned around in the woods, Latti said.
With a body temperature of 94, Labreck was treated by Caribou emergency medical service technicians and then taken to the hospital.
No further information was immediately available.