Lost Kayaker Found On The Merrimack River

BOSCAWEN, NH — Capital region firefighters and first responders spent Friday evening searching the Merrimack River for a lost kayaker. At around 6:30 p.m., firefighters from Boscawen and Concord were sent to the boat launch at Jamie Welch Park on Depot Street in Boscawen to begin a search. According to scanner chatter, one kayaker called 911 to report that his partner was lost along the river.

Dispatch told the kayaker to stay where he was and they would send teams to the river to assist.

Firefighters asked the kayaker if he knew which way the missing kayaker was paddling and he reported that he thought he was upstream but turned back and couldn't find him. He had also been calling out for the kayaker and was getting no answer.

A boat launch from Concord arrived at the scene to start searching the river about 10 minutes later.

NewsCam 603 has footage from the boat launch below:

At just before 7 p.m., boat rescue teams reported that they had boats traveling both north and south along the river attempting to find the kayaker while first responders searched along the shore. About 15 minutes later, one of the boat teams reported that people in Canterbury along the river reported seeing a kayaker down by the corn field in Boscawen about 30 minutes before.

At just before 8 p.m., a Merrimack County sheriff's deputy told dispatch that he had found the man at the Hannah Duston Historic Site at the Boscawen and Concord line. The man refused treatment from EMTs, according to scanner chatter, and was given a courtesy ride back to his vehicle.

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