Human remains found in Acadia National Park

Date: April 16, 2016
Contact: John Kelly, 207-288-8703

On Friday, April 15, volunteer members of Maine Search and Rescue Dogs (MESARD) discovered human remains near Parkman Mountain in Acadia National Park. Park rangers and members of Mount Desert Island Search and Rescue (MDISAR) recovered the remains, which were transported to the Maine Office of the Chief Medical Examiner (MOCME) in Augusta to determine the identity and cause of death of the individual.

The National Park Service (NPS) has been searching for a 50-year-old man, Timothy Philpott, whose car was found on Jan. 13 at the Parkman Mountain parking area located off Route 198 in Mount Desert. The NPS conducted a hasty search that day followed by a large-scale search of the area around Parkman and Sargent mountains on Jan. 14 and 15.The NPS suspended the search on Jan. 16 due to heavy snowfall.Since that time, the NPS has continued the search, as conditions permitted, with assistance from MESARD, MDISAR, Maine Association for Search and Rescue, Maine Warden Service, and Maine Forest Service.

On Friday morning, three members of MESARD using three trained search dogs were searching an area of the park that had not been covered. At approximately 11 am, one of the search dogs alerted on a backpack that was found 40 feet downslope from the Around Mountain carriage road in a heavily forested area northwest of Parkman Mountain. The other two search dog teams moved to this location to broaden the search. At approximately 2:45 pm, a search dog alerted on human remains, which were located 170 feet downslope from the location of the backpack.

The NPS obtained permission from the MOCME to remove the human remains and then organized a recovery with the assistance of MDISAR.The human remains were recovered at 6 pm and immediately transported to the MOCME. The MOCME's investigation will provide a positive

identification of the individual, and determine the cause and manner of death. The NPS will issue additional information based on the results of the MOCME's investigation.

"We appreciate the efforts of the volunteers from Maine Search and Rescue Dogs in conducting the search," said Superintendent Kevin Schneider. "We also thank the Maine Warden Service, Maine Forest Service, Maine Association for Search and Rescue, and Mount Desert Island Search and Rescue for their time and expertise over the past three months."

Please contact John Kelly, Public Information Officer, Acadia National Park, at 207-288-8703 (office) or 207-664-9499 (cell) with questions.