CONTACT:
Sgt. Alex Lopashanski
603-744-5470
603-271-3361
February 18, 2023
Eaton, NH– Saturday, February 18 shortly after 3:00 p.m. New Hampshire Fish and Game was notified that a vehicle was stranded in the area of Willis Bean and Foss Mountain Road. These roads and many others that lead to them in the area are not maintained in the winter months. Due to poor cell service in the area an exact location was unknown and multiple attempts to establish contact with the group failed. There are multiple access points to the area in Freedom, Eaton, and from Maine as well. Members of the Freedom Police Department, Carroll County Sheriffs, and Oxford County Sheriffs had checked access points with no contact.
Conservation Officers arrived shortly before 5:00 p.m. and located the group at their vehicle on Willis Bean Road just under 2.5 miles from the point the plows stop on Foss Mountain Road in Eaton. Hannalore Tice, 38, of Westwood, MA was following her GPS to the Foss Mountain Hiking Trail. She was driving a Toyota 4 Runner. She had gotten onto Willis Bean Road off of Kennard Hill Road in Porter, ME and drove just over 2.5 miles to a point where she got stuck in the snow. Hannalore was accompanied by Stephanie Henriques, 32, of Attleboro, MA and Rachel Felson, 32, of Boston, MA.
When Conservation Officers arrived, local Samaritans were also on scene and had been attempting to dig them out. Once the group was located, Christopher Elliot of Critters Towing and Off Road Recovery was able to utilize his tracked Chevy Blazer to extricate the vehicle and safely get it back to Kennard Road just after 8:30 p.m.
NH Fish and Game would like to remind motorists that while GPS navigational systems can be accurate, they can steer you wrong. Especially in winter and in rural areas, road closures and seasonal maintenance are rarely updated on navigational devices. In addition, operating a wheeled vehicle on a snow machine trail can be punishable up to a $1,000.00 fine.