CONTACT:
Lt. William Boudreau
603-271-3361
September 6, 2022
Antrim, NH – On Friday, September 2, at approximately 1:50 p.m., the NH Fish and Game Department Dispatch received a call from the New Hampshire Audubon Society. The Audubon Society was reporting that they had received a call from a male party reporting that his 11-year-old son was lost while hiking Bald Mountain. This was the only information that they could get as the call kept dropping due to poor cellular service.
Conservation Officers eventually made contact with Todd Grant of Philadelphia, PA. Grant reported that he had last seen his son at approximately 1:00 p.m. near the junction of the Tamposi Trail and the Spur Trail. This trail junction is located near the summit of Bald Mountain in Antrim. Conservation Officers began searching the trail system and called in other agencies and volunteers to assist in the search. Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Department, Antrim Police Department, and Hancock Police Department patrolled the surrounding roadways, the NH State Police Air Wing Unit Helicopter, and a NH State Police K9 responded. Volunteers with the New England K9 Search and Rescue Team and volunteers with the Upper Valley Wilderness Response Team also responded to assist.
At approximately 6:30 p.m., the missing boy’s mother informed Conservation Officers that her husband, Todd Grant, the original calling party, had become lost while looking for his son and his cellular phone had died. A member of Upper Valley Wilderness Response Team was sent to look for the missing boy’s father while responders continued the search for the missing boy.
At approximately 7:00 p.m., members of the Upper Valley Wilderness Response Team, who had arrived at the command post and were being briefed on the missing boy’s disappearance, realized that they had driven past a boy matching the description. The boy was walking down Willard Pond Road with a male adult. An Antrim Police Officer responded to the area described and located the missing boy and his father walking towards the command post on Willard Pond Road. Todd Grant had, by chance, located his missing son while lost himself. The two of them were able to walk out to Route 123 in Hancock and were making their way back to the parking lot. Grant and his son were reunited with the rest of their family who were waiting at the trailhead parking lot.
Conservation Officers would like to thank all those who responded, including good Samaritans and neighbors who assisted in the search. New Hampshire Fish and Game would like to remind all hikers to be prepared and bring the 10 essential items when going out for a day hike. Never rely on cellular phone applications to provide accurate trail mapping. Visit Hikesafe.com for more information about the 10 essential items.