WESTMINSTER — One week ago, we stood in our driveway and waited hopefully for news from the Vermont State Police as they coordinated the search for our missing son with New England K-9 Search and Rescue, Upper Valley Wilderness Response Team, Vermont Fish and Game, Vermont State Police K-9 Unit, a Vermont National Guard helicopter, and the Westminster Fire Department.
We thank them all for their tireless efforts. We are grateful for the compassionate and professional journalism of Josh Stilts of the Reformer and Jeff Potter of The Commons.
The thoroughness of the team led by Sergeant Anthony French and Lieutenant William Jenkins of the Vermont State Police was impressive and comforting. We knew that the State Police and other team members, many of them volunteers, were doing everything they could to help find our son and bring him to safety.
We offer our deepest gratitude to the many individuals who were part of the organizations that helped find our son, and also to the kind family in Westminster who notified the police when our son approached their house for help after having spent the previous 25 hours in the woods without adequate food, water, or shelter.
We received dozens of calls, emails, and visits from caring members of the community, and we thank each person who passed on words of kindness and encouragement, who sat with us, who brought us food, who made us tea, who gave us a hug, and who helped us to pass the time with a little less pain while we waited to know whether our son would be found alive.
Among our friends and community members offering prayers and support were people from Native American, Buddhist, Quaker, Christian, and other spiritual traditions. We thank everyone for their prayers and words of hope. We also acknowledge the incredible outpouring of love and support from friends in the Westminster, Bellows Falls, and Walpole, N.H. communities.
It is good to know that in difficult times the community will pull together to help those in need. Thank you. We are very, very grateful.