CONTACT:
Sergeant Kevin Bronson
603-271-3361
August 10, 2020
Chesterfield, NH – On August 9, at approximately 7:00 p.m., an emergency call was received from the family of Noah Pepera-Rudd, a resident of West Chesterfield, NH. Pepera-Rudd had left from Horseshoe Road in Chesterfield to hike in Pisgah State Park. The section Noah had planned to hike has no trails and is a large expanse of challenging terrain. This was not the first time Pepera-Rudd had hiked in this section of Pisgah State Park, however when he had been gone for 4 hours, well over the expected time he was anticipated back, Pepera-Rudd’s family called for help.
Chesterfield Police, Chesterfield Fire, New Hampshire State Police, and Conservation Officers with New Hampshire Fish and Game responded to the last place Noah had been seen and initiated search efforts. After an initial search of the immediate area and nearby logging roads turned up nothing, New Hampshire Fish and Game requested that New England K-9 respond to the search.
New England K-9 assembled five teams to search Pisgah State Park through the night. These teams searched high probability areas attempting to make voice contact with Pepera-Rudd. Shortly after 3:00 a.m., a New England K-9 team made voice contact with Pepera-Rudd and located him at 3:15 a.m. Pepera-Rudd had become lost in a large swamp and was unable to navigate to safety. He was unhurt but hungry and dehydrated. New England K-9 escorted Noah to safety, taking over an hour to navigate the technical terrain. Pepera-Rudd was reunited with his family just before sunrise on August 10.
New Hampshire Fish and Game is always grateful to have so many partners come together on complicated search efforts such as this and to have professional and reliable volunteer groups such as New England K-9 for support. This is the second search and rescue mission within four days that New England K-9 has searched through the night in the New Hampshire woods and is credited with saving another life this week.