Missing Cambridge Hiker Found Dead In The White Mountains Of New Hampshire

CONCORD, NH — The body of a Massachusetts man, missing since mid-April, was found on Monday in the White Mountains of New Hampshire.

William Donovan, 65, of Cambridge, Massachusetts, was found around 10:30 a.m. in the Dry River in Cutts Grant. According to the New Hampshire Fish & Game Department, his body was found after his gear and a jacket were found during the weekend by hikers and reported to officials. The finding led officials to a new search area.

Originally, officials were searching the area of Crawford Path, after he had not been seen for about two weeks.

Officials said Donovan’s body was found about two and half miles from Route 302. The teams included conservation officers, drone teams from the Androscoggin Valley Search and Rescue team, New England K-9, and the Upper-Valley Wilderness Response Team, but they ran into trouble after finding his body.

“The searchers worked for hours to extricate the body from beneath a large boulder,” a report stated. “But due to the size of the boulder, freezing cold water temperatures and lack of tools required to move such a boulder, additional resources were called to assist.”

The Twin Mountain Fire Department provided gear and tools and more rescue workers responded to the area, hiking with all the gear and tools, and then assisting in carrying his body off the mountain and down the trail.

“It is not known what brought Donovan into the Dry River Wilderness and it is unknown how he entered the water,” a report said, “but it appears he likely was somehow forced off the ridge, likely due to high winds or adverse weather, between Mount Monroe and Mount Eisenhower during his hike and ended up in very difficult and desolate terrain of the Dry River Wilderness.”

An autopsy will be performed by the state medical examiner in Concord.

Do you have a news tip? Please email it to tony.schinella@patch.com. View videos on Tony Schinella's YouTube.com channel or Rumble.com channel. Follow the NH politics Twitter account @NHPatchPolitics for all our campaign coverage.