Tough day for family and searchers hoping for happy ending
It was early Saturday morning on March 26 when outdoorsman Gary Lee set out for the Limekiln Lake Camp-ground to check on some traps.
When he pulled in the parking area, he wasn’t surprised to see that another car was already there as it is a popular entryway to the bordering Moose River Plains that is enjoyed by hikers, fishermen, cross-country skiers and snowmobilers.
However, Lee became suspicious when he returned to the area Monday morning, March 28 and found the vehicle, a 2009 Toyota RAV4, just as it was two days earlier.
He contacted the Inlet Police Department about his concern and gave the license plate number of the vehicle.
Later that evening, a missing person’s report was issued by the Town of Dewitt Police Department in the Syracuse area, seeking the whereabouts of 44-year-old Kerry Young, a Dewitt woman who had been reported missing by her family.
Young had notified her mother and sister that she was going hiking last Friday, but did not tell them where she was going.
Reportedly, her cell phone had not registered any activity since that night.
When it was discovered that the description of Young’s missing vehicle matched up with the information provided by Lee and the Inlet Police Department, a Tuesday morning, March 29 search for Young began at the campground.
The search effort was coordinated by the Dewitt Police Department as lead investigative agency and the Inlet Volunteer Emergency Services (IVES) building was designated as search camp headquarters. DEC Forest Ranger John Scanlon acted as search director.
The nearly 100 volunteers who gathered in the search effort included personnel from Ray Brook DEC, State Police, the Central Adirondack Search and Rescue Team, and Eagle Bay and Inlet Fire Departments.
Despite weather conditions that were considered “good” for a search (no new snow had fallen in about a week and sub-freezing temperatures had maintained the hard-pack of snow, allowing rescue personnel on foot and snowmobile to easily maneuver its surface), no sign of Young was discovered by the time the sun went down on Tuesday.
The search resumed at sun-up on Wednesday with two State Police helicopters joining the effort.
Early that afternoon, a local man who had just heard the report of the missing woman, went to the IVES building and said he had seen a set of tracks in the snow near Fawn Lake when he was snowmobiling on Saturday, March 27.
The man joined rescue personnel in search of that area. They followed the tracks and at approximately 2 p.m. Young’s body was found at a spot overlooking Fawn Lake.
Young’s mother, sister and ex-husband were brought to the scene and made positive identification of her.
At approximately 4:30 p.m. Captain John Streiff of the DEC and State Police Sergeant Rob Brown issued the statement that the search was over and Young’s body had been recovered.
They thanked all who were involved in the search effort.
Investigators from New York State Bureau of Criminal Investigation in Ray Brook are leading the investigation into Young’s death.
An autopsy was scheduled for Thursday, March 31.
