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Searchers On Mt. Washington Find 67-Year-Old Man Didn't Need Help

A search Thursday for a missing man on Mount Washington Thursday turned out not to have been necessary.

According to a news release from Fish and Game the family of a 67-year-old Ohio man became worried after he failed to contact them for two days.

About 1:30 p.m. searchers began looking for David Deubner, who was on a solo, multi-day hike.

He was found about 3 p.m. by searchers from the Appalachian Mountain Club “alive and well on the Old Jackson Road hiking trail approximately a half mile from the Auto Road,” the news release said. “Mr. Deubner, who was very well prepared, was in the process of hiking back to the Pinkham Notch Visitor’s Center, unaware that he was the subject of a search.”

Deubner said he had turned off his cell phone to conserve the battery in case he needed to make a call.

Officials said while Deubner was on the mountain temperatures dropped forty degrees and at times winds gusted to more than 100 miles per hour. That increased concern about his well-being.

Deubner told officials because of bad weather he had decided not to try and reach the summit and at one point “he had to slither and crawl on the ground for approximately a quarter mile while above treeline, due to the fact that the wind would not physically allow him to stand up.”

Those participating in the search included members of New Hampshire Fish and Game, the AMC, Androscoggin Valley Search and Rescue Team, US Forest Service Snow Rangers and Mt. Washington State Park.

 

 

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