Positive News...Bristol man found safe this morning by Maine Warden Service

Photo courtesy of Maine Game Wardens...Kris MacCabe
pictured rescued the man.

Bristol, Maine – Maine game wardens locate a missing Bristol man early this morning. The Maine Warden Service was called around 7:30 last evening to search for Willem Jansen, 82, from Round Pond, located within the town of Bristol. Jansen suffers from Alzheimer’s and was reported missing by his wife Alexandria. Jansen was last seen by his wife yesterday afternoon at 12:30 walking Route 32 to another property they own in Bristol. This was a normal activity for him as indicated by his wife. Several game wardens and K9 units responded as well as members of Bristol Fire, Lincoln County Sheriff’s Dept. and Lincoln County EMA.

Jansen was found early this morning by Game Warden Kris MacCabe and his K9, a six-year-old black lab named Morgan. Jansen was located in some shallow water in the woods about 1/4 mile from road. Ambulance personal evaluated Jansen for hypothermia. He was released home at the scene. This early morning rescue most certainly saved Jansen’s life.

No photos are available.

Three women located after overnight search in northern Maine

Millinocket, Maine – An intense overnight search locates three women who became separated last night while snowmobiling in northern Maine. Dorothy Gould (62) from Glenburn, Alice Meadow (50’s) from Texas and Valerie Morrow (50’s) from Garland, Maine were staying together at a camp on Smith Pond located west of Millinocket in Township T3-Indian Purchase.

The three women went snowmobiling last evening and were headed toward Kokadjo when they became stuck near Penobscot Pond in T1R11 between Millinocket and Kokadjo. Dorothy Gould left her two friends on snowmobile to find help when she became lost. Gould made her way to the north end of Baxter State Park where she ran out of gas near Nesowadnehunk Field Campground. None of the women had extra gas or emergency supplies with them. Game wardens were called early this morning at about 2:30 and began an intensive search. With temperatures last evening below zero and some thin ice in the area, game wardens were very concerned for the women’s safety.

Late last evening, Gould made her way to a cabin near Nesowadnehunk Field where she was able to enter and make a fire. Gould stayed the evening in the cabin and was met this morning by snowmobilers travelling in the area. The snowmobiler’s provider her with gas and she followed them back towards Millinocket where she met with game wardens around noon today. Meanwhile, Meadow and Morrow were found this morning by game wardens stranded beside the snowmobile trail. The women were taken to Kokadjo as they were cold and hungry from spending a night outdoors.

Over a dozen Maine game wardens and two Warden Service aircraft were involved in this overnight search effort. The Maine Warden Service recognizes that this incident was very dangerous and could have turned out much worse. It is critical to be prepared for an unexpected stay in the woods and those who snowmobile are reminded to bring a communication device, area trail maps and a means to start a fire. The impending storm this evening coupled with some thin ice and open water condition s in this area was of high concern to game wardens. Please use good judgment and common sense and be prepared when snowmobiling, especially in remote areas of Maine.

(Attached photo courtesy of the Maine Warden Service. Two Warden Service aircraft are shown here staged at Millinocket Airport for this search effort.)

Maine graduates five new game wardens from police academy

Vassealboro, Maine - The Maine Criminal Justice Academy graduated 61 new police officers today from the 18-week Basic Law Enforcement Training Program (BLETP) in Vassalboro. Among the many topics the officers studied were crime scene processing, emergency vehicle operation, firearms proficiency, traffic and criminal law, domestic violence and sexual assault.

Of those 61 officers, five were Maine game wardens who will now be entering their next phase of training. A twelve-week Advanced Game Warden Academy, also based out of the Academy in Vassalboro, will begin in late January where skills more specific to game warden work will be taught. In addition, they will also participate in an intensive Warden Training Officer (WTO) program involving field work, team building and problem solving.

Graduating today for the Maine Warden Service are Game Wardens Camden Akins, 23, from Winslow, Kayle Hamilton, 26, from Buxton, Megan Miller, 22, from Pittsfield, Lauren Roddy, 21, from Belgrade, and Taylor Valente, 24, from New Gloucester. Also shown in the attached photo is Game Warden Kyle Franklin, 24, from Durham. Due to limited BLETP class sizes, Franklin will be entering the Academy in August of 2017.

Maine’s newest game wardens have been assigned their patrol areas. Akins has been assigned to the Chamberlain Lake district, Hamilton is headed for the Clayton Lake district, Miller will be going to the Mars Hill district, Roddy will be covering the Jackman district, Valente has been assigned the Rockwood district, and Franklin will be going to Escort Station after completing the BLETP next year.

The class commencement address was given by Maine Attorney General Janet Mills. Maine’s Chief Game Warden, Colonel Joel Wilkinson stated today that “…We are very proud of our five game wardens and their successful completion of the 18-week BLETP. Their actions and performance through the training process demonstrate the success of our rigorous screening and hiring process of hiring the very best. “ The Maine Warden Service congratulates all those who graduated today and their families and wish them all a safe and fulfilling career in law enforcement.

(Attached photo: From left to right: Game Wardens Taylor Valente, Kayle Hamilton, Megan Miller, Lauren Roddy, Camden Akins, and Kyle Franklin.)

Grant provides safety gloves for Maine's game wardens

Augusta, Maine - Maine’s game wardens are now better protected than ever to deal with sick and injured animals in the course of their duties. Thanks to a grant from the Maine Outdoor Heritage Fund, Maine game wardens recently received specialized gloves that will help prevent the spread of infectious wildlife diseases, and offer protection when handling birds such as eagles, owls, hawks and ospreys.

Maine game wardens routinely come into contact with injured and sick animals as well as a variety of birds, some of which are raptors with large talons. The Maine Warden Service is charged with handling injured and sick wildlife calls across Maine. In 2015 alone, Maine game wardens responded to 105 calls for animals suspected of having rabies. In addition, game wardens responded to 2,918 calls from the public regarding injured animals. It is extremely difficult to safely and effectively handle these animals without protective equipment.

These gloves were the result of considerable work and research by Game Wardens Dave Chabot of Greene and Eric Blanchard of Wells and funds were made available by the Maine Outdoor Heritage Fund. The Maine Warden Service provides game wardens with the best equipment available to perform their unique mission for the State of Maine. These gloves are now available to help compliment the tools available to game wardens to safely respond to sick and injured animal concerns.

Attached photo of Game Warden Dave Chabot courtesy of the Maine Warden Service.

Game Warden K9 locates Camden man

[Camden, Maine – September 21, 2016] A-76-year old Camden man with Dementia is doing well today after having become lost yesterday afternoon. At 10:00 PM last night, Game Warden Corporal Michelle Merrifield was called by Camden police to help search for Peaceful Dawn of Camden. Dawn was last seen at 1:30 yesterday afternoon on John Street near the entrance to Merry Spring Gardens, an assisted living facility where he lives.

After searching the area near Merry Spring Gardens, Corporal Merrifield and her K9 Piper attempted to track Dawn. Corporal Merrifield and Piper checked a grassy entrance to a nearby powerline to see if K9 Piper would detect any scent. K9 Piper appeared to indicate a scent so Corporal Merrifield hollered Dawn’s name and heard a faint response.

Dawn was located nearly 400 yards away on the power line from John Street. Dawn had walked into a swamp where he could no longer move. Dawn was confused, dehydrated and weak. His legs were covered with abrasions and he could not stand on his own. Corporal Merrifield contacted Camden Police Officer Sam Butler to assist with the difficult removal of Dawn from the swamp. It became too difficult for the two to remove Dawn so Camden Fire responded with a litter and carried Dawn back to an awaiting ambulance where he was evaluated.

Operation Dry Water This Weekend

Maine game wardens will be out in force this weekend participating in Operation Dry Water, a national outreach and enforcement campaign with the goal of raising awareness of the dangers of boating under the influence and removing impaired operators from our nation's waterways.

Thousands of law enforcement officers across the United States will be on heightened alert for those violating boating under the influence laws during the annual Operation Dry Water weekend, June 26-28. Operation Dry Water is a nationally coordinated heightened awareness and enforcement campaign, focused on deterring boaters from boating under the influence of drugs or alcohol.