Busy weekend for Fish and Game rescuers included search for missing child

Sep. 30—Conservation officers with New Hampshire Fish and Game were busy with multiple search and rescue operations across the state over the weekend, including a search for a missing child and a hiker being flown by medical helicopter off Mt. Monadnock.

At 7 p.m. Sunday, Hopkinton police were notified of a child missing from a home on Maple Street.

Conservation officers happened to be in the area after responding to an incident earlier in the day, and joined in the search effort with police from Henniker, Dunbarton and state troopers.

Hopkinton police deployed a drone, while State Police and Fish and Game deployed K9 teams. At 8:25 p.m. a conservation officer found the child in a spillway for the Army Corps of Engineers flood control area, approximately .14 miles from where she was last seen.

"The child was tired and cold, but was suffering from no serious injuries," Fish and Game said in a statement.

Earlier on Sunday, Monadnock State Park staff were notified of a hiker on Mt. Monadnock suffering from a possible life-threatening condition, officials said.

A crew of Monadnock State Park employees met the hiker at 3:38 p.m. and began assessing her condition, before determining she was suffering a medical emergency.

At 4 p.m., Fish and Game was notified of the situation and a Boston MedFlight helicopter was called due to the nature of the hiker's condition, officials said.

At 4:30 p.m., rangers at Monadnock State Park prepared a landing zone above the tree line for the helicopter, which landed at 5 p.m. The hiker was loaded inside and flown to Elliot Hospital in Manchester for further medical treatment.

The name of the hiker is being withheld at this time, Fish and Game officials said.

Also on Sunday, a 25-year-old woman from Somerville, Mass., was rescued after she slipped and fell while hiking Edmands Path in Sargent's Purchase in the White Mountains.

Fish and Game was notified at 12:15 p.m. that Kyleigh Burns was injured about two miles from the Edmands Path trailhead parking lot.

Conservation officers said Burns was hiking up the trail when she fell and injured her lower leg. People she was hiking with attempted to treat the injury and continue on, but Burns could not bear any weight, so they called 911.

Conservation officers and 22 volunteers from Androscoggin Valley Search and Rescue and Pemigewassett Valley Search and Rescue responded to the call. While waiting for rescuers to reach her location, Burns was able to descend with help from her hiking companions and "scooting herself down the trail approximately 1,000 feet" before rescuers arrived, officials said.

Once rescuers reached Burns, they placed her in a rescue litter and carried her down the trail, reaching the parking lot at 4:30 p.m.

According to Fish and Game officials, Burns declined an ambulance, opting instead to have her hiking companions drive her to a medical facility for treatment.

Conservation officers also responded to two crashes involving ATVs on Sunday.

At 2:30 p.m., Fish and Game dispatchers were notified of an ATV rollover with injury in Claremont along the Power Line Trail of the Cat Hole trail system.

Justin Weisman, 32, of Merrimack was operating an ATV with a group of friends when he rolled the machine while navigating a rocky section of trail. The ATV landed on top of him briefly before ending up on the trail.

Weismann's riding companions brought him to the trailhead on one of their machines, where a Gold Cross Ambulance was waiting to transport him to Valley Regional Hospital for further evaluation and treatment.

The crash is under investigation, but conservation officers believe the steep terrain and "inadvertently hitting the throttle" were contributing factors.

At 5 p.m. Sunday, Fish and Game was alerted to another ATV crash with injury, this time in Raymond.

Conservation officers said Nicholas Arsenis, of North Reading, Mass., was operating an ATV on private land off Shatagee Road in Raymond when he lost control of the machine and rolled it.

Arsenis received serious but non-life-threatening injuries as a result of the crash, officials said, and was transported by Raymond Ambulance to Elliot Hospital for further evaluation.

Operator error is believed to be the primary cause of the crash, officials said.

Arsenis was not wearing a helmet and was issued a citation for operating an Off Highway Recreational Vehicle (OHRV) on land without written landowner permission, Fish and Game officials said in a release.