Lincoln Man Found After Getting Lost in Woods

A 69-year old Lincoln man was found after being lost for about 24 hours in the woods in Bradley, Maine over the weekend.

The Maine Warden Service said Ronald Freelove of Lincoln was reported lost after dark Friday by his son, Keith Freelove of New Hampshire. Keith said his father left their camp on the Kingsbury Road in Bradley at about 12:45 Friday afternoon to walk through the woods. After Mr. Freelove failed to return to camp by sunset, a search was started using K-9 and ground searchers.

Throughout the night, Mr. Freelove kept moving as his lighter was not working and he was unable to build a fire, according to a Facebook post from the Maine Dept. of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife.

Mr. Freelove lost his hat, which had a compass pinned to it. A second compass was lost after the lanyard caught on a bush and pulled the compass from his pocket along with a whistle and pair of gloves. He also used all his ammo trying to signal for help during the night. Temperatures dropped to the mid-30s overnight with widespread fog.

At approximately 12:30 Saturday afternoon, Ronald Freelove was located by Jake Letendre from MESARD and his K-9 Reese. He was found about three-quarters of a mile from where he started and was helped out of the woods by searchers, the Warden Service said.

Freelove was checked out by medical personnel from Milford Rescue and Old Town ambulance crew before returning to camp.

The Warden Service thanks MESARD, MASAR, Milford Rescue and Old Town Ambulance. The Maine Association for Search and Rescue (MASAR) is a non-profit organization that promotes and develops search and rescue resources for the state of Maine.