CONTACT:
Sgt. Wayne T. Saunders, Region One Office, Lancaster, NH; 603-271-3361
June 11, 2012

Successful Search at Pinkham Notch, White Mountain National Forest

CONCORD, NH - Late Sunday night (June 10, 2012), Vinoth Naudakumar, age 22, of New South Wales, Australia, who is enrolled as a graduate student at MIT in Cambridge, Massachusetts, was reported overdue from a day hike. He had started his hike with a friend, Yuval Kochman, who currently resides in Boston, Massachusetts. Kochman and Naudakumar set out hiking together, but became separated on the trail. When Naudakumar had not returned to their vehicle at the end of the day, Kochman searched for him on the trail and then reported him missing, overdue from the hike.

Early Monday morning, New Hampshire Fish and Game organized a search with the assistance of Appalachian Mountain Club (AMC). Teams from Fish and Game and AMC covered trails in the area Naudakumar was last seen.  A combined team of AMC and Fish and Game located footprints going down a drainage off of the Avalanche Ski Trail. They followed them and located Naudakumar. Naudakumar was in good condition, with only a few cuts and bruises. He was hiked out of the woods by the locating team and brought to the AMC Pinkham visitor center.

Naudakumar is an inexperienced hiker who was not prepared for a hike. He had food and water but did not have a map, compass, headlamp or proper clothing for an unexpected overnight stay in the woods.

For more information on safe hiking, visit www.hikesafe.com.

###