Conservation officers were called to Pack Monadnock in Peterborough as part of their second search and rescue mission of the day on Saturday.

Columbus Day weekend has a reputation as one of the busiest search and rescue weekends of the year, and this year proved no exception, according to press releases issued by New Hampshire Fish and Game. Conservation officers were called to Pack Monadnock in Peterborough on Saturday at about 5 p.m. when a hiker required medical attention.

Ryan Trombi, 40 of Andover, Massachusetts, was hiking with friends when he suffered a medical emergency and required immediate attention. Peterborough and Temple Fire Departments responded along with Fish and Game Conservation Officers and were able to locate Trombi, who was able to hike down the mountain with assistance. He was taken to Monadnock Community Hospital in Peterborough where he was treated for a non-life-threatening medical issue.

The Pack Monadnock rescue came on the heels of another search mission that day, when conservation officers searched Gap Mountain in Troy for a missing seven-year-old child. Hannah Dunchus, 32, of Marlborough, was ascending the Gap Mountain Trail at approximately 1 p.m. with her daughter and two friends when the girl ran ahead on the trail. The three adults continued hiking, but did not catch up to girl, believing that she had continued hiking ahead of them. When they did not locate her at the summit of Gap Mountain, they immediately called 911.

Troy Fire and Police Departments responded along with Fish and Game Conservation Officers. At 3:50 p.m., a member of the Troy Fire Department located the girl several hundred yards off trail. She was uninjured and reunited with her relieved mother.

Rescue operations were also in the area earlier in the week, responding at around 11:30 p.m. on Tuesday for a pair of over-due hikers believed to be at Miller State Park in Peterborough. 

Joseph O’Keefe, 49, and Kathleen Menendez, 44, both of Milford, were reported missing by O’Keefe’s son around 10:30 p.m., when the two did not return from their hike as expected. 

A Peterborough police officer had checked on O’Keefe’s vehicle earlier in the night at the Miller State Park parking lot on Route 101 about an hour before the concerned call. A Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Department Dispatcher realized that the vehicle the Peterborough Police had checked on earlier in the night belonged to O’Keefe. Both hikers’ cellular phones had been left in the vehicle located at the trail head.

A short time later a Peterborough police officer and a conservation officer began hiking the trails and located the over-due hikers around 12:45 a.m. on Wednesday morning. The pair was about ¾ of the way up the Marion Davis Trail. The pair was given lights and escorted back down to the parking lot around 1:20 a.m. The pair began their hike the day before around 6:15 p.m. and did not have warm clothing, lights, or food.

Conservation officers remind anyone who ventures outdoors to prepare for the unexpected by leaving adequate time to hike and by carrying the essential equipment such as flashlights or headlamps and extra layers and to know your physical limitations. Hikers should also leave a detailed itinerary with friends or family.

Conservation officers were assisted by the Peterborough Police Department and the Hillsborough County Sherriff’s Office Dispatch Center.