Missing Middle Grove man found dead

77-year-old discovered by searchers on private property in Greenfield

A 77-year-old Middle Grove man who was reported missing in Saratoga Springs on Feb. 11 was found dead in the town of Greenfield later that evening, the state Department of Environmental Conservation said Tuesday.

The state agency announced the unnamed man’s death in its weekly news release on forest rangers’ recent activities.

The man died of hypothermia, Sarataga Springs Police Lt. Robert Jillson said.

Local police called the DEC at 5:21 p.m. Monday, Feb. 11, to ask if rangers could help search for the missing man. He had been last seen at a Saratoga Springs restaurant that morning and, when he didn’t return home by late afternoon, his family called city police, the DEC said.

Police traced his phone signal to the intersection of Lake Desolation Road and Plank Road in Greenfield, where they found his car. The man was known to hike in that area, the DEC said.

With a snowstorm closing in, the state sent eight forest rangers to organize a search of the Lake Desolation State Forest and the Mullyville snowmobile trail system.

State troopers, Saratoga Springs police officers, Saratoga County sheriff’s deputies, state environmental conservation officers, state park police, Greenfield firefighters and Community Emergency Corps members also joined the search.

The Greenfield Fire Department used a six-wheel utility task vehicle to carry searchers with hand-held heat imaging cameras along the trails, as forest rangers and the sheriff’s tactical team scoured offtrail areas on foot. Other members of the search party walked along Lake Desolation Road in both directions looking for clues.

One of the search teams found the man’s body at 10:39 p.m. on private property, the DEC said. The state agency did not give a cause of death.

Snowmobile fatality

State forest rangers also were called to respond during a snowmobile accident Saturday in the Hamilton County town of Long Lake that proved fatal.

At 11:18 p.m., officials were called by a snowmobiler whose friend who had gone off the trail and fell through the ice near Steam Boat Landing on the south side of Long Lake in the Adirondacks.

Rangers responded and requested an airboat from the Northville DEC office. At 12:20 a.m., rangers reported the person was located in the ice in the adjoining Raquette River and was dead. The rider’s name was not provided.

With assistance from Long Lake Fire Department and EMS personnel, a ranger entered the icy waters and removed the snowmobiler and turned him over to the Hamilton County Medical Examiner. State Police continue to investigate.