Officials are continuing to search for a missing 65-year-old kayaker, Alan Benjamin, who is presumed to have drowned after disappearing on March 25, a representative from the New Hampshire Fish and Game Department told The Dartmouth on Monday. State rescue agencies found the overturned kayak, life vests and a baseball cap belonging to the Vermont resident floating on the Connecticut River near Hanover.
Officials told WCAX on March 26 that it might be weeks before Benjamin's body is found.
The Hanover Fire Department responded to a 6:14 p.m. call about the empty kayak on March 25. The kayak was found approximately one and a half miles north of Ledyard Bridge, according to a department press release.
After dispatching a College rescue boat, fire officials matched identification found in the kayak to a vehicle parked at the boat launch in Thetford, approximately 13 miles upstream from where the kayak was found. Along with Benjamin's backpack, rescue crews also recovered two life jackets, according to the release.
As of March 26, officials were unaware as to whether Benjamin was wearing a life jacket, according to a WCAX news online report.
"We did locate two life preservers last evening," Todd Bogardus, a lieutenant with the Fish and Game Department, told WMUR on March 26. "Maybe he had a third one with him, but we're presuming at this point he wasn't wearing one."
The Hanover Fire Department notified the Fish and Game Department, a representative of which advised the fire department to check the river banks as well as an island near the Hanover-Lyme town line. Searchers from the Hanover Fire Department, Hanover Police Department and the Fish and Game Department searched for Benjamin until 11:00 p.m. on March 25, aided by the Dartmouth-Hitchcock Advanced Response Team helicopter.
On March 25, rescue officials did not find any indication of Benjamin on the island or nearby river banks. Due to poor weather, rescue workers called off the search until the next morning when a New Hampshire State Police helicopter and boats from New Hampshire Fish and Game would join the search.
Officials from the state Fish and Game Department, Hanover Fire Department, Lyme Police Department, Dartmouth Safety and Security and police departments have worked with New England K-9 Search and Rescue air-scenting dogs throughout the week-long search for Benjamin, according to the Union Leader. The primary search area is in Lyme, north of where the overturned kayak was found, according to a department press release.
"Our primary use for the dogs is for people who are lost or missing on land," Nancy Lyon, of New England K-9 Search and Rescue, told WCAX news. "But we also train them to work for people in any kind of debris, which would include people under water."
However, windy conditions have hindered the use of air-scenting dogs, Lyon told WMUR news.
"With this amount of wind, once [the scent] hits the surface, it's going to slide right across the water," Lyon said. "It could be quite a long way from where it's even coming from the water."
Benjamin's family last saw the experienced kayaker at his home around 11 a.m. on March 25, the Union Leader reported. Official have narrowed their search from a 15-mile to an eight-mile stretch of river that runs from Hanover to Norwich, officials told the Union Leader on March 26.
Due to the heavy rain typical of early spring weather in New Hampshire, rivers, springs, and lakes have filled to near capacity, according to an April 2 press release. Aware that April 1 marks the beginning of open-water lake trout and salmon fishing in N.H., Fish and Game Department officials warned residents and visitors to use extreme caution and utilize appropriate safety gear and techniques when traversing waterways.
Waterways, including the Connecticut River, are currently "high and fast," with limited visibility, Fish and Game Conservation Officer Tom Dakai told the Union Leader. According to the department's press release, most New Hampshire boating fatalities happen in early spring, due to both still-cold water temperatures and swift currents.
"The fast-moving current can easily cause a small vessel to overturn, and with the cold water temperatures, hypothermia will set in very quickly," Captain Mark Gallagher, chief of the state Marine Patrol, said in an April 1 Fish and Game Department press release. "Even people wearing personal flotation devices are at risk."
