Christophe Chamley, a hiker reported missing in New Hampshire in late April before being found at a hotel while a mountain was being searched, may be stuck with the bill for the effort, ABC News reported.
Chamley, 70, told his wife that he would return from his hike in White Mountains on April 23, so when he did not return, his wife called 911 and a search ensued, the broadcaster said. The Cambridge, Massachusetts, man also had an undisclosed medical condition, heightening the concern.
New Hampshire Fish and Game Department organized a massive search, which included Androscoggin Valley Search and Rescue, the U.S. Forest Service, snowcats from the Mount Washington State Park and a National Guard helicopter, the network wrote.
As the search progressed, the Mount Washington Hotel informed authorities that Chamley had checked in there about 1 a.m., ABC News reported. He told authorities that he could not complete his trip back home and got the hotel room, per the network.
The hiker said he attempted to message his wife but the message had not gone through, ABC News reported. Chamley told authorities, according to ABC News, that he did not know until 11 a.m. the next day that there was even a search for him.
"You gamble based on the information provided by you," Col. Kevin Jordan, head of the law enforcement division of the New Hampshire Fish and Game Department, told the Concord Monitor.
"Because of his age, 70, we were told he had a medical condition, was up on the highest peaks in the Northeast, 24 hours overdue, and hiking alone ... when he's 24 hours over, we don't wait."
New Hampshire state law allows Fish and Game to bill for the expenses of a search and rescue if the subject of the search is judged to have been negligent, the Monitor reported. The bill could be thousands of dollars since a helicopter was involved, the publication said.
"We are unsure if we're going to bill him," Jordan said to the Monitor. "I'm more inclined to think that we will."
Jordan told the publication that it would take at least three weeks before the Fish and Game staff would decide whether to recommend charging Chamley.
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