NJ Hiker Missing In New Hampshire Was Without Cellphone: Report

CONWAY, NH — The search for a Brick Township man who has gone missing while hiking alone in New Hampshire is continuing after searchers linked him to an abandoned campsite over the weekend.

Gregory Auriemma, 63, of Brick, was last seen June 24 in Conway, New Hampshire, as he prepared for a hike in White Mountain Forest, authorities said. He was reported missing last week when he had not returned to Conway, where he had been due back on July 5, authorities said. His brother told NJ101.5 that his brother was hiking without his cellphone.

Searchers with the New Hampshire Fish and Game Department have traced Auriemma's path to an abandoned campsite near the Dry River Trail, said Jane Vachon, public affairs officer for New Hampshire Fish and Game.

In a statement, Vachon said information searchers received showed he stayed in the area of the Mizpah Spring Hut in Bean’s Grant on or about June 28, and further information traced him to the campsite near the Dry River Trail in Cutts Grant. A Fish and Game search-and-rescue team confirmed on Saturday that the abandoned campsite was Auriemma’s, she said.

"A ground search of the Dry River drainage was conducted by that search team and the area was also searched by air with a New Hampshire National Guard Blackhawk helicopter," Vachon said, and hikers in that area were interviewed to try to gain additional information.

"The Dry River area is a very remote portion of the White Mountains; searchers must hike approximately four hours to access the area to begin searching," the statement said. The search is likely to be scaled down after Monday, depending on what is found, Fish and Game Lt. Bradley Morse said.

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Auriemma, who is an attorney and chairs the Ocean County arm of the Sierra Club of New Jersey, is an experienced hiker, friends have told the Patch. He is not related to Bob Auriemma, Brick Township High School's longtime ice hockey coach.

"(Greg) was hiking in a place he loved and had been looking forward to this trip for months," said Jeff Tittel, director of the Sierra Club of New Jersey.

Auriemma's brother, Kenneth, told NJ101.5 on Monday that his brother had hiked the White Mountains dozens of times and felt comfortable tackling his planned 30-mile, 10-day hike alone and did not take his cellphone. Gregory Auriemma, who has private practice in Brick, was supposed to attend a Sierra Club barbecue on July 5 in New Jersey and his significant other contacted family when he did not show up, Kenneth Auriemma said.

A woman hiking in the area on July 14 noticed Auriemma's campsite along a trail near the Dry River had not been touched since she first saw it a week earlier, and his pill bottles were found in the tent, Kenneth Auriemma told the radio station.

The Associated Press reported that severe thunderstorms moved through New Hampshire that weekend, dumping as much as an inch of rain per hour and causing flash flooding in some areas. Whether any of that flash flooding occurred in the area where Auriemma was camping was unclear. Most of the damage occurred in Grafton County, New Hampshire, south and west of the area where Auriemma was camping, according to the AP report.

New Hampshire Fish and Game conservation officers have been assisted in the search by the Upper Valley Wilderness Search and Rescue, New England K-9 Search and Rescue, Pemigewassett Valley Search and Rescue, the Appalachian Mountain Club, the US Forest Service, a New Hampshire State Police search team, Androscoggin Valley Search and Rescue and New Hampshire State Forest Rangers, the statement said.

“We’re very troubled and concerned about Greg being missing for so long," Tittel said, adding the New Jersey chapter has reached out to the New Hampshire Sierra Club and other organizations for help in finding Auriemma.

“Greg Auriemma is a long-time Sierra Club member and volunteer," Tittel said. "He has worked tirelessly for the club on so many issues, especially those around coastal areas."

"He is a big advocate for the oceans and marine issues as well as an avid hiker," Tittel said, calling Auriemma a "very trusted friend and adviser."

"I consider him a friend, ally, and confidant," Tittel said. “Our thoughts and prayers go out to Greg and his family. We hope he will be found safe and soon."

Authorities are asking the public for any information available from hikers who have been in this area and may have met up with Auriemma; if you have any information, please call (603) 271-3361.

Gregory Auriemma, as he packed his backpack to go on a 30-mile solo hike on June 24. Photo via New Hampshire Fish and Game Service