Rangers end search of woods for Quinn
State police take the lead in search for missing personBy GEORGE EARL, Enterprise Staff Writer
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Quinn is 5 feet, 5 inches tall, 150 pounds, with blue eyes and shaved head. Anyone with information that may help in locating him is asked to call the state police at (518) 897-2000.
KEENE - The state police no longer consider Jeremy Quinn to be lost in the woods and are now classifying him as a missing person.
An extensive three-day search for the 38-year-old Keene man whose truck was found at a remote private residence Tuesday has largely ended, uncovering no clues as to the whereabouts of a man with strong ties to his family and community. Officials say state police are investigating why Quinn is not being found in the woods.
"Over 150 people searched the woods (Thursday) in Keene without finding Jeremy Quinn, evidence of his presence, or clues to his whereabouts," state Department of Environmental Conservation spokesman David Winchell said in an e-mail.
Quinn is a caretaker for several local properties, including the Gunderson cottage on Hickey Road, where he is believed to have parked his truck at about 7 a.m. Tuesday. Family members said they became concerned later that day after learning that he had not shown up to another job site at the Ausable Club.
State police Zone Commander Capt. John Tibbitts said, "Usually when someone gets lost in the woods, they leave a trail," and Quinn left none. "You start with what you know, in this case, with the forest rangers, but investigators are working on other possibilities."
Tibbitts said those possibilities include foul play and that investigators are operating under the assumption that "he is somewhere where he cannot make contact with us."
DEC Forest Ranger Capt. John C. Streiff said if Quinn were lost or injured he would have likely been located in an area bound by state Route 73, Route 9N, Hurricane Road and Jackson Road as well as additional searches in the high country immediately north of the primary search area. Winchell said searchers thoroughly covered the boundaries of the primary search area, especially two drainage areas which were searched twice using Type 3 (grid) search techniques, starting from different directions each time.
"After three days of intensive searching, DEC forest rangers are confident that the efforts made over the past few days should have resulted in the location of a lost or injured person," Winchell said.
"Forest rangers have concluded that Jeremy Quinn is not in the primary search area and therefore is neither lost nor injured," Winchell said. "Therefore, the incident has become a missing person investigation with the state police as the lead."
Winchell said forest rangers will now be assisting the state police in the missing person investigation.
Today, rangers will lead six crews of volunteers from the local fire departments and community at large in roadside sweeps to search for any evidence that may indicate Quinn's whereabouts.
Quinn is a Keene native, a husband and a father of two young girls. His wife works for the DEC at the Region 5 headquarters in Ray Brook. His mother and brothers also live nearby.
Contact George Earl at 891-2600 ext. 25 or gearl@adirondackdailyenterprise.com.
