1054 State of Maine Department of inland Fisheries and Wildiife Bureau of Warden Service Nature of Investigation: Missing Hiker Date of Incident/Event: Oct 13, 2015 Location: Redington Township Subject(s) of investigation: Gerry Largay Report of: Lieutenant Kevin Adam Date of Report: Nov 12, 2015 SYNOPSIS: A team consisting Maine Warden Service, Maine State Police, and Of?ce of Chief Medical Examiner?s of?ce went to retrieve the remains of Gerry Largay. 011 October 14, 2315, at approximately 1400 hours, I received a phone call from Game Warden Scott Stevens of Snatton Maine. Scott told me he had heard some news that the remains of a body had been found up in Redington on the Navy property. I made some phone calls and was able to get in contact with NCIS agent Joshua Drezek. Agent Drezek was headed to Maine at that point from Southern New England. i asked what. was going on I heard there was a body found on the Navy training facility lands in Redington Agent Drezek stated they had received a call, that a contractor doing some survey work had come across the remains of a possible body in the woods. I asked if he had. anymore description and he stated no. I asked about coordinates and he stated he may have some on email but was driving and would be checking it soon. He advised me the he was headed to the Comfort Inn in Wilton, Maine but would not arrive there until about 1900 hours, along with the other agents. After notifying members of our command staff, game wardens associated with the search for Gerry Largay and after making more phone calls to Agent Drezek I decided to stay right in Wilton at the Comfort INN with the NCIS agents. I also Spoke Lt. Brian McDonongh of the Maine State Police Major Crime Unit, Lt. Troy Gardner, and Detective Randy Keaton bringing everyone up to Speed on what we know. The possibilities were: it was a human body; it was animal bones, or if it was a human body, was it Gerry Largay? While travelling down to Wilton, NCIS Agent Drezek sent me the coordinates he had received from the survey. I reco gnized them as UTM coordinates. I forwarded them to Game Warden Investigator Joshua. Bubier, one of the mappers on our Incident Management Team. He converted it over to a position format that we use and was able to come up with a waypoint that looked to be north of the Appalachian Trail and East of Reddington Pond. This area was a very likely area to contain Gerry Lai?gay. At about 2000 hours, on Oct 13, 2015 myself, Investigator Joshua Bubier, and Maine State Police Detective Randy Keaton met with NCIS agents at a conference room in the Comfort Inn. We did not State of Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife Bureau of Warden Service learn much more, other than that the two surveyors were staying at a Motel in Rangeley and we would meet them in the morning around 0700 hrs. i then gave a brie?ng about Gerry Largay and why we believed it was her. We also talked about which agencies would be on scene and what their role would be. We decided to meet about 0600 in the lobby. Get 15, 2015: Thursday After meeting with everyone in the morning, I heard several different versions of what the contractor had found, I heard human remains, I heard a campsite with a tent, and heard bones. At about 0700 we met with the person who found the possible human remains and learned he had a picture on his cell phone of the area. That picture was downloaded and emailed to me and it was de?nitely a human skeleton and from what I could see of the location on the map and what I saw in the picture I was almost certain it would be Gerry Largay. We then all left and entered the Navy Property from the Western Entrance off of Route 16. Once every one was gathered, we discussed how we would get to the scene of the human remains. The surveyor who found the site was with us and was there to make sure we found it easily. We arrived at the scene sometime between 1000 and 1100 am. After I was initially shown where the campsite area was, which was dif?cult to see unless you were right next to it. I saw a ?attened tent, with a green backpack outside of it and a human skull with what I believed to be a sleeping bag around it. I was 99% certain that this was Gerry Largay?s. The area was taped off and Maine State Police photographed the scene utilizing a camera with 360 degree technology. After that was done, the OCME representative went in and started to collect and document the scene. I asked the OCME representative what he had taken for a coordinate for the location of Gerry and he showed me his Garmin GPS and I took down these numbers: N44 59.011 70 24.099 Some observations 1 made at the scene: The tent was placed under several large Hemlock trees with wide branches that obstructed the view to the sky. Gerry apparently spent some time to build up a bedding area using small trees, pine needles and possibly some dirt in an attempt to keep her tent out off of any water that would collect in the depression. The camp site looked very clean, and there was not a lot of clearing of debris or branches. 1 saw no evidence of a the ring or fire near the tent. Off to the West about 25 yards away, was some silver material, I assumed it was from a space blanket. It had been tied to a small hardwood tree (about 10 feet tall). The other end was tied to a broken branch that I can only assume was to spread the material as wide as it could get and stay that way. There was some open canopy there about 25 by 25 feet in diameter which was more open than where the tent was located. Around the camp site were plenty of downed dead fir trees that were dry and would have been a good source of bumable material. Off to the north of the campsite about 30 yards away, were two dead trees that were black and charred from being burnt. There were also burnt marks on a tree to the cast that State of Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife Bureau of Warden Service was just feet way from these two. This tree was horizontal to the ground and had charred burn marks on it. At first glance the two standing dead trees looked like a lighting strike had possibly caused this burning. Upon further investigation it looks like some sort of ?re was attempted on these trees by Gerry. To the East of the campsite were a couple rows of ?r trees that were somewhat thick and blocked the View of a nearby stream, which was about 50 yards away. This was a rock strewn drainage that had ample water ?owing at that time. The rocks were varied in size, but ranged from large and unmovable rocks and boulders, to small rocks that could be lifted and moved. While collecting material inside the tent, we came across a small note book or composition book that had wrinngs by Gerry inside. Some of the passages were read and we realized she marked in her book passages up to August 6. I realized from listening to the passages being read that there were a lot of personal letters and compOSitions to family members inside the book. i asked the of?cer to stop reading and we would analyze it all later when we had more time. We then continued collecting the rest of all the belongings at the campsite. After pictures were taken and other scene documentation was completed, the rest of the of?cer?s, wardens and agents split up into two teams and searched a swath around the immediate area of the campsite, making several large sweeps to all sides of the campsite. Once that was completed and the scene was completely documented, mapped and measured, the group started to pick up the tent, backpack, clothing and anything that we could associate with Gerry. Gerry?s remains were placed in a white body bag to be transported down from the mountain. We all then cleared the scene and headed to the West towards Reddington Pond, walking down a ridge to the Southern end of the pond. Oct 16 2015: Friday I Warden Investigator Josh Bubier attended the medical examination at the OCME in Augusta. I conducted a press brie?ng at CMCC in Augusta. Oct 19, 2015: Monday Warden lnvesti gator Josh Bubier and I met at the Gray State Police barracks in Gray. We were there to collect and further document Gerry?s belongings that were collected at the campsite. We collected the bags and brought them over to the Gray Warden Service headquarters, Gray Maine. Warden Bubier and I took several hours to photograph and document the items found at Gerry?s ?nal location. State of Maine Department of inland Fisheries and Wildlife Bureau of Warden Service Oct 28 2015: Wednesclay Wardens Scott Thrasher, Scott Stevens, Major Chris Cloutier, and I travelled to the Barjurn area with George Largay, Kerry and Ryan B, and Ryan Largay to show them the area and bring thorn to the ?nal location of Gerry. We decided Barjurn. We parked our vehicles and walked down to the intersection of the RR Bed and Appalachian Trail. The group decided to start walking north on the Appalachian Trail for several hundred yards north, then left the trail and headed West towards the ?nal location where Gerry was located. Once we navigated through the thick boundary along the AT, the woods transitioned from softwoods to open hardwood. I could see for several hundred yards in either direction. It was fairly easy walking although may have been different in summer with ferns. I noticed several old skidder or logging trails that were running through the property. These were very old, maybe 1940?s and 1950?s era logging roads. As we kept walking west, I noticed a clear yellow blazed line on the trees. I initially thought this was the Navy preperty, but later after looking on the map realized this was the boundary to Maine Public Lands property. After crossing that boundary line, the woods became thicker with more softwood trees than hardwood trees. We walked down a steep ridge to a brook, crossed it and proceeded up over a steep ridge where we walked into thick evergreen woods. Then, we went down a steep ridge to another brook and up another steep ridge until we arrived at Gerry?s ?nal location. After everyone ?nished looking around the campsite, the family left a cross where the tent was located along with several family mementos. After clearing the campsite, we headed south. It was thick for the first 60?70 yards and then became open hardwoods with good visibility in all directions. it was steep but walking down hill was easy. After walking about 20-25 minutes we came to a clear logging road and followed that and came to the Old RR Bed. in total we had walked about 30 minutes. Once on the Old RR Bed we walked back towards the Appalachian Trail and then continued to our vehicle location. CELL PHONE EXAMINATION Gerry Largay?s cell phone was drOppcd off to the Maine Computer Crime Lab by this of?cer on October 20, 2015. After several days, a detailed report was given to me from Crime Lab. Below is a summary of the pertinent information on the cell phone. On 7-22?2013 around 11:01 am, Gerry texts to George: In somm trouble. Got of?ce? to go to br. Now Zosz?. Can call AMC to ifa trail maintainer can help me. Somewhere north ofwoods road. Xox' State of Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife Bureau of Warden Service That message then attempts to get sent out 10 more times. The last one at 12:25 pm on July 22, 2013. Another text is attempted to George at 2:09 pm with no verbiage in the message. On 7w23-2012 at 4:18 pm: Lost since yesterday. O?trail 3 or 4 miles. Call police for what to do pls. Xox This message was sent again on 127?201 3 at 4:39 pm The last four unsent texts messages all occur on 7 ?30?2013 between 4:35pm and 4:41 pm. There are two other activities mentioned in the report that are interesting when 2 texts are deleted on August 6, 2013. August 6, 2013 is the last activity listed by date on the phone. There were no photos or Videos of her between July 22, 2013 and August 6, 2013 or after found on the phone. Gerry Persona! oumal? Summary A small composition journal was found in Gerry belongings. This journal consisted of personal messages to Gerry?s loved ones and day to day thoughts. It does provide a timeline and her thoughts and activities from July 22 to August 10. There is one more entry after August 10 and it is listed as August 18. Unsure as to the accuracy of that date. Summary/ Conclusion The following conclusions from this officer are based on searches, investigation details, cell phone analytics, and interviews with family, friends, and other Witnesses who had pertinent information and information from Gerry?s writings. Gerry Largay left Poplar Lean-to on Monday July 22, 2013 at approximately 0700 to 0715 am and headed North (actual direction of travel East) on the Appalachian Trail. Her plan for the day was to arrive at Spaulding Lean-to which is approximately 9 miles away. Gerry?s Plan was then to then stay overnight at or near the Spauiding Lean-?to and on Tuesday July 23, 2013 hike the remaining 13 miles to Route 27 crossing Where she would meet her husband George. On July 22 2013, sometime in the late morning hours, Gerry Largay was north of the old RR bed. Gerry would leave the trail to go the bathroom. It is unknown where this occurred or how far off the State of Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and. Wildlife Bureau of Warden Service trail she went. Gerry could then not find her way back to the trail and attempted to send text messages to her husband George for assistance. Those texts never were sent from the phone because of poor or nonexistent cell tower coverage in the area. Gerry would then walk in a westerly direction and towards increased elevation to try and get higher for better or any cell phone coverage. More texts were made and attempted to be sent, but Gerry would not be in an area with suf?cient cell tower coverage for them to be sent. Gerry would reach the area ofhcr ?nal location on Tuesday July 23, 2013. She would set up her tent on a bed of pine needles and sticks. She would write in her journal every day with a date and a passage. The passages were consistent every day and there were written entries up to August 10, 2013. There was a nothing from August lit?17?? . The last entry was dated on August 18th. We are unsure if this is a correct date or not. On Wednesday July 24, 2013, George Largay would call to report his wife Gerry Largay overdue. The Maine Warden Service responded to start investigating and searching. The searching and investigating would continue to build and expand using search resources from the following federal, state, county, local, and non?governmental agencies. Maine State Police, Maine Forest Service, Federal Bureau of Investigation, Maine Border Patrol, National Park Service, Baxter State Park, Carrabasset Police Department, Carrabasset Fire department, Salem Fire department, Franklin County Sheriff?s Of?ce Franklin County Emergency Management Of?ce, and the Maine Association of Search and Rescue, Air Assets were provided by the Maine Warden Service ~Fixed Wing, Maine Forest Service? Helicopter, and Civil Air Patrol Fixed Wing. Plus assistance from several out of state police agenc1es. Initial search efforts would occur for 7 days using aircraft, and ground searches. These search resources concentrated on areas along the Appalachian Trail, drainage-s, and linear travel aids. Investigative efforts concentrated on ?nding other hikers in the area who may have seen Gerry, establishing a timeline for Gerry, cell phone analytics, and identifying any persons of interest and their location during July 22, 23, and 24 of 2014. Searchers found many items, but none of them could be attributed to Gerry. Investigation would take time to work through several false leads, false identi?cations, and locating and ?nding hikers who had valuable information and continued to hike on the trail. After 7 days of searching and finding no clues, a decision to suspend the search was made on July 30, 2013. Investigation and searching would continue. Finally generating a time line where we felt Gerry went somewhere off the Appalachian Trail between POplar Leanth and Lone Mountain. The investigation and search would continue for the next 26 months. Over that time period, there was only 1 clue that was located that can be attributed to Gerry; a picture taken of her in the early morning of July 22, 2013 at Poplar Lean-to by another hiker. Search efforts would come close to her on three different occasions. All three were search teams. State of Maine Department of inland Fisheries and Wildlife Bureau of Warden Service There were many leads received over the next 26 months ranging from persons of interest for possible criminal activity related to Gerry?s disappearance, identity theft involving Gerry?s personal infomation, geographic information by sightings in different states, to information suggesting Bigfoot was responsible for her disappearance. All of these leads were investigated with our investigative partners. On Oct 11, 2015, a forester working on a contract for the United States Navy doing an environmental impact statement on property that they own in the area of Reddington Pond, came across what he believed to be a test site and human skeletal remains. The site and remains would be identi?ed as Gerry Largay. DESCRIPTION OF SUBJECTS OF INVESTIGATION: Geraldine Largay OFFICERS INVOLVED Lieutenant Kevin Adam PO. Box 551 Greenville Maine 04441 Work: 695-3756 kevin.adam@maine.gov Report of: Date: Lieutenant Kevin Adam Supervisors Approval: Date: GERRY LARGAY CAMP SITE INVENTORY OF TENT BACKPACK OCT 19 2015 MAINE WARDEN SERVICE HEADQUARTERS GRAY MAINE tieutenant Kevin Adam and Investigator Joshua Bubier performed inventory on items found at her final location. This consisted mostly of a tent which was ?attened, some various clothing scattered around, many Ziploc bags found inside the tent, her backpack which also had other various Ziploc bags inside. #1 Picture of large evidence bag. Contents of Bag - Tent Black with Yellow Fly - 1 black rain Jacket with Hood - 1 blue Dry bag - Mylar space blanket - Inside tent Blue baseball Cap - Pages from a book, very wet moldy and had moss growing on it String from commercial made product Blue White Bandana GERRY LARGAY CAMP SITE INVENTORY OF TENT BACKPACK OCT 19 2015 MAINE WARDEN SERVICE HEADQUARTERS GRAY MAINE Contents of Blue Dry Bag: - Collapsible Tent Poles - 2 Water Bottles, 1 empty, 1 has about 1/8 full of water. - 9 Ziploc Bags Ziploc Bag: - 3 Duracell batteries - Paper directions for something with a light - String about 12 inches long - Another empty Ziploc bag GERRY LARGAY CAMP SITE INVENTORY OF TENT BACKPACK OCT 19 2015 MAINE WARDEN SERVICE HEADQUARTERS GRAY MAINE Ziploc Bag - Panasonic S-SO (tooth brush) - Advair dispenser on #17 - Toothpaste, small size - 2 orange foam earplugs Dental Floss about full. - Baby Powder full. Ziploc Bag Small First Aid Kit: also had small pair of scissors, Neosporin, sewing kit, 4 needles, safety pins, cotton swabs, pills? - 2 bic type lighters 3 package of band aid - 2 athletic tape, 1 full, 1 partial GERRY LARGAY CAMP SITE INVENTORY OF TENT BACKPACK OCT 19 2015 MAINE WARDEN SERVICE HEADQUARTERS GRAY MAINE - 4 blister pads - 1 orange waterproof match holder: inside were 22 matches, 2 small birthday type candles, match striker which had evidence of being used. Ziplock Back - Pa per section map of Applachain Trail, with distances, elevation to points of interest, very wet Ziploc Bag Paper work of Rosary - Homemade necklace with white stone wrapped in string. GERRY LARGAY CAMP SITE TENT BACKPACK OCT 19 2015 MAINE WARDEN SERVICE HEADQUARTERS GRAY MAINE Ziplock Bag - 2 packages of tissue paper Ziploc Bag - Sewing Kit with 5 needles - Piece of paper with "follow Terrys Hike with his Blog 1 Sharpie with piece of duct tape 1 pencil with "riverpine" etched in it 1 pen - Small compact Swiss army knife - 1 green Para cord 9.5 feet long - 1 white twine 14.5 feet long - Rosary papenNork wet GERRY LARGAY CAMP SITE INVENTORY OF TENT BACKPACK OCT 19 2015 MAINE WARDEN SERVICE HEADQUARTERS GRAY MAINE Ziploc Bag ?wet GERRY LARGAY CAMP SITE INVENTORY OF TENT BACKPACK OCT 19 2015 MAINE WARDEN SERVICE HEADQUARTERS GRAY MAINE CONTENTS OF BROWN EVIDENCE BAG MARKED CELL PHONE, NOTES - 4 bags inside plus 1 page from book #l Ziploc Bag Page from book with writing August 6 2013 Gerry La rgay When you find my body please call my husband George i, and my daughter Kerry twill be the greatest kindness for them to know that I am dead and where you found me no matter how many years from now. Please ?nd it in your heart to mail the contents of this bag to one of them. There is writing on other side in pencil but cannot decipher. GERRY LARGAY CAMP SITE INVENTORY OF TENT BACKPACK OCT 19 2015 MAINE WARDEN SERVICE HEADQUARTERS GRAY MAINE Ziploc Bag: - 20 Dollar Bill, 3 one dollar bills, 36 cents State of Georgia Driver?s license with name and picture of Gerry Largay - Small notebook with George Please Read Ziploc Bag - Blue Samsung Sliding Phone GERRY LARGAY CAMP SITE INVENTORY OF TENT BACKPACK OCT 19 2015 MAINE WARDEN SERVICE HEADQUARTERS GRAY MAINE CONTENTS OF GREEN DRY BAG AND TENT POLE BAG Ziploc Bag Beige Shorts Plum Colored sport Shirt GERRY LARGAY CAMP SITE INVENTORY OF TENT BACKPACK OCT 19 2015 MAINE WARDEN SERVICE HEADQUARTERS GRAY MAINE Ziploc Bag - Bag marked Glasses, was inside the tent - Glasses black and brown framed ?coach? - Yellow Whistle - Black Pen Stream light flashlight, still worked - Key chain temp gauge with compass ITEM Skull 22' 21' 10" Black Shirt w/ blue letters 16? 10" 23' 5? Left Boot 23? 4" 17' 11" White Bag 22' 2" 31' 3" Pink Fleece 23' 8" 32' 4" Sea To Summit Dry Bag 24' 6" 31' 6" Green pack 28' 3" 35' Pot 8: Utensils 31' 4" 36' 9" Poles 32' 3? 37' 1" Book/Note 33' 6" 39' 0" Center of "raised" bed 33' 10" 39' 10" Ziploc Bag w/ Paper 34? 1" 40? 6" Yellow Birch Tree used for Baseline N44 Degrees 49.023', W70 Degrees, 24.1015' Baseline was run from 22 degrees