Thanks to the DEC Coordination and Training a Four-Year Old Boy is Saved

I have in the past criticized the DEC in Region 3 for failing to utilize potential resources to enable rapid and effective response to missing person’s searches, particularly as a result of a tragedy in the summer of 2002 on Friday Mountain. Now it is time for me to acknowledge a remarkable turn around.

Captain Daniel Walsh, of Region 3 responded to criticisms by reaching out to concerned organizations and promising more training and utilization of volunteer resources. More importantly he followed through with his promises. Lieutenant Stephen Sherry, who was the ranger in charge at the time of the Friday Mountain tragedy, has been running an intense program for training and certifying DEC Wilderness Searchers and Crew Bosses in Monticello. This training has been made available to local Fire Departments, Ambulance Corps and to Search and Rescue Organizations, at a time of growing budget austerity.

This weekend, all that effort paid off, when four-year old Daniel Niktalova wandered off from his families cabin at Swinging Bridge Campsite at 2:00 PM on Saturday. After preliminary search efforts failed to find the boy that evening, the New York State Federation of Search and Rescue was notified to call it’s members for assistance the next morning. Overnight, dog teams continued to search and rangers laid out flagging lines to delineate search areas.

Sunday morning, approximately 100 trained volunteers assembled, and were broken down into 10 person teams, led by DEC certified Crew Bosses, with DEC Rangers providing supervision. Search operations got under way shortly after 09:00 and the subject was located at about 11:15 on a wooded and rocky ridge top, about 400 meters from where he had last been seen. The child was actually located by Harry Rampe, A Liberty Volunteer Fireman and renowned Catskill 3500 Club leader. Harry was one of the Catskill 3500 Club volunteers who assisted on the Friday Search and subsequently received formal DEC training and certification. Harry carried Daniel back in his arms, and was subsequently interviewed by reporters and a television crew. Great job, Harry!

Thanks for posting this John, I'm glad some good has come of the Friday incident.

Thanks to all involved, and way to go Harry! Another hike well lead!

That's such great news for the boy and his family.
I am part of a SAR squad covering Region 6. It is very true that the DEC Wildlands Search Course is not given nearly often enough. Many times at DEC organized searches there are plenty of volunteers with no training whatsoever who are eager and willing to head off into the field as part of a team (or worse, by themselves without any trained leader). Their enthusiasm is appreciated, but there are too few who are trained, especially crew bosses, resulting in chaos and inefficiency. Few of the untrained are turned away unless they are grossly ill-equipped (such as wearing sneakers and blue jeans in cold wet conditions). Often instant training is given on the spot as we enter the field, obviously not the best way to proceed. The danger is that crews may be incompletely covering assigned areas without knowing how to look for important tiny clues, evidence may be compromised, uncoordinated and poor decisions are made, or disorganization such that clues and the lost person are overlooked. We try to train our own new members but the formal DEC course is really necessary. It is offered way too infrequently.

Thanks for the report, John. Good work Harry and by all of the search and rescuer crew!

John Graham said:

The child was actually located by Harry Rampe, A Liberty Volunteer Fireman and renowned Catskill 3500 Club leader. Harry was one of the Catskill 3500 Club volunteers who assisted on the Friday Search and subsequently received formal DEC training and certification. Harry carried Daniel back in his arms, and was subsequently interviewed by reporters and a television crew. Great job, Harry!

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The Middletown Time Herald-Record newspaper interview with Harry is here. Harry is on the left of the first photo.

Harry is also quoted in the text of this WCBS report and appears briefly in the accompanying video.