Rescue crews are searching for a missing man who reportedly wandered off the summit of Mount Washington on Wednesday.
New Hampshire Fish and Game conservation officers, Mount Washington State Park staff, and volunteer search teams from Androscoggin Valley Search and Rescue (AVSAR) have been searching for the missing Florida man around the summit of Mount Washington since Wednesday evening, July 16.
Fish and Game officials were notified around 6 p.m. on Wednesday, July 16, 2025, about the man, identified as William Davis, 79, of Jacksonville, Florida, who wandered off the summit of Mount Washington after taking the Cog Train to the top.
According to Davis’s wife, he was last seen in the area of the observation deck around 3:20 p.m. From there no one knows where he went.
Phone contact was made by a State Park employee and it seemed that he was lost off trail but didn’t appear to be far from the summit.
Davis reportedly did not know where he was, but his description of the area made it seem that he would be easily located.
However, after searching for over an hour he was not located and had stopped answering his phone.
A full-scale search was conducted with a Fish and Game Drone Team and over 24 rescue personnel searching off trail locations well into the early morning hours.
Officials said temperatures were mild with light winds initially, which helped the searchers, but fog came in late, and the wind picked up.
With no evidence of his whereabouts and no clues to go on, the search was suspended around 2 a.m. and started again at 6 a.m.
Again drone teams started right after sunrise and search teams consisting of AVSAR volunteers, park employees, and conservation officers from around the state arrived and searched areas where it was assumed Davis would have most likely walked to.
Searchers scoured off-trail locations in periods of thick clouds and increasing winds throughout the day.
Again, with no evidence or clues of his whereabouts, and the deteriorating weather conditions, the search was suspended for the night, but started again this morning, July 18.
