UNEXPECTED CONDITIONS

Mystery of Missing Hiker, 61, Ends in Tragedy After Frantic Search

The weather had been good when he set out. Then the snow hit.

A 61-year-old hiker who went missing over the weekend has been found dead. Kent Wood’s family reported the West Roxbury, Massachusetts, man as missing after losing contact with him on Saturday as he hiked in the White Mountains in New Hampshire. The New Hampshire Fish and Game Department said his body was found on Tuesday night, five and a half miles from his vehicle on the Kinsman Pond Trail, four days after he arrived at the Lafayette Campground in Lincoln. A search had been launched that morning, which included an Army National Guard Helicopter Team. The department said it was “warm temperatures and clear skies” when he set off Saturday morning, but loved ones lost contact with him that afternoon, and bad weather rolled in the next day. “While gathering information on where to search, rescuers learned that Wood was prepared for warmer conditions and not the 3–5 inches of snow that had fallen between Sunday and Monday,” the department added. Rescuers carried his remains off the trail, arriving Wednesday morning. “It is still winter in the mountains with deep snow, precipitation, and freezing temperatures,” the department added in its warning to visitors.