FRYEBURG – A Fryeburg snowshoer was flown to a Lewiston hospital Wednesday night with severe hypothermia after being found unconscious about a mile from his home, Police Chief Wayne Brooking said.
The man’s name was not being released Wednesday night until his immediate family members were notified, he said.
Brooking said a family member called Fryeburg Rescue to report that the man had not returned home as expected from snowshoeing. It was unknown what time the man left his home Wednesday, but there was no contact with him during the day, the chief said.
A spokesman at the Oxford County Regional Communications Center in Paris, which handles dispatch duties for Fryeburg police and rescue, said the center was notified of the incident at 6:31 p.m.
The Maine Warden Service was also notified, Brooking said.
Fryeburg Rescue personnel searching on foot found the man near the power line in the Indian Acres Hill area, off Route 5 north of the Fryeburg Fairgrounds, the chief said.
Rescuers using borrowed snowmobiles brought the man to an ambulance, which took him to Fryeburg airport, where he was moved to a helicopter and flown to Central Maine Medical Center, the chief said.
“It’s at least severe hypothermia,” Brooking said of the man’s condition.
Fryeburg Patrolman Richard Murray is investigating the incident.
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