A missing 74-year-old Etna man was found safe Monday after being lost for nearly 30 hours in the woods, as temperatures dipped below freezing overnight.

Joseph Nolin had left the area near his son’s residence on the Dunham Road in Etna around 8:45 Sunday morning to go check his game cameras in the expanse of woods behind his house, according to a news release from the Maine Warden Service.

When Nolin didn’t return at the end of the day, his son reported him missing.  Emergency personnel began searching sometime after 7:00 p.m. Sunday and increased their efforts Monday morning. The Maine Warden Service issued a Silver Alert for the man. They said Mr. Nolin had several medical conditions and did not have a cell phone.

Missing senior citizen found deep in the woods near a bog, unable to move

Game Warden Michael Latti and K9 Luna were about a mile into the woods at the edge of the Etna Bog around 1:45 p.m. Monday when the K9 took off to follow a scent, the Warden Service said. At the same time, Latti heard a yell. Luna stopped and began barking, signaling she had found the man.

Mr. Nolin was unable to move and was suffering from hypothermia and dehydration but was “alert and talkative.” Wardens said he told them how he had got turned around in the woods, became lost, and walked until he couldn’t move anymore. He also said he would not have survived another night in the woods.

Helicopter lands in bog to retrieve missing Etna man

Rescuers gave Nolin food and Gatorade and warmed him up with blankets while they devised a way to get him out of the woods. Game Wardens cleared an area of the bog for a Maine Forest Service helicopter, and pilot Chris Blackie “deftly landed the helicopter on the floating bog near Nolin,” according to the news release.

Mr. Nolin was loaded into the helicopter and transported to a waiting ambulance near his son’s house. He was examined by emergency service personnel and released once he was warm and re-hydrated.

Another successful rescue

Nolin’s son told wardens that his dad said he heard a bell, which was attached to Luna’s collar, then “all of a sudden, a black lab appeared and started to lick him and he knew he was saved.”

Maine Search and Rescue Dogs, Etna Fire and Rescue and Carmel Ambulance assisted the Maine Warden Service in the search.

Etna is in Penobscot County, Maine, about 15 miles west of Bangor.

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