Andover man rescued from Idaho peak
A Massachusetts man who went missing for nearly three days on Idaho’s tallest mountain was rescued yesterday afternoon.
Theodore Gilmore, 58, of Andover, tried to climb the 12,000-foot-tall Mount Borah. He was reported missing Thursday morning by owners of the Wagon Wheel Motel in Mackay, Idaho, after he did not return as planned.
The Custer County Sheriff’s Department searched for Gilmore by ground and with National Guard helicopters for three days before he was spotted late yesterday afternoon. Gilmore was dehydrated but was expected to recover.
The motel’s co-owner, Karen Picotte, said that when Gilmore signed in, she learned he was a member of the Highpointer Club, whose members hope to climb the highest peak in every state.
“I worry about the climbers like a mom,’’ Picotte said. “I always ask for their information and ask them to let me know when they come back. When [Gilmore] did not return, I said to my husband, ‘I have a bad feeling about this.’ ’’
According to Kathy Rodgers, dispatcher at the Sheriff’s Department, the mountain is filled with steep, dangerous areas, and temperatures at the peak have been as cold as 30 degrees in recent evenings.
Picotte said she regularly receives guests who try to scale Mount Borah, especially during the summer. “I have never hiked it,’’ she said. “I prefer the view from the bottom.’’
