RANGELEY, Maine — The Maine Chiefs of Police Association recognized a Rangeley-area search and rescue team with Life Saving Awards after a missing 61-year-old man was found alive near Mooselookmeguntic Lake, according to a Daily Bulldog report.
The report said the awards went to Police Chief Richard Caton, Sergeant Russell Adams, Fire Chief Michael Bacon, Fire Lieutenant Camdan Carmichael, Deputy Fire Chief Stephen Grant Jr. and citizen Jim Higgins for their roles in the July 2025 search for Brian Shorey.
A routine absence became a multi-agency search
According to the Daily Bulldog, Shorey was a regular visitor at businesses near Oquossoc Grocery and was last seen leaving the store between 11 a.m. and noon on July 7, 2025. Rangeley Fire and Police were notified around 5:30 p.m. after he was not seen on his usual daily walk.
The report said conditions were unusually warm that evening, with temperatures in the high 70s to low 80s in direct sun. Searchers later also had to deal with thunderstorms and heavy rain, and the search was suspended near midnight as conditions worsened.
The response included the Rangeley Police Department, Rangeley Fire Department, Franklin County Sheriff’s Office, Maine Warden Service, U.S. Border Patrol, emergency medical personnel and community volunteers, according to the report. A Franklin County Sheriff’s Office K-9 team searched, line searches were conducted in wooded areas, Border Patrol provided drone support and a Silver Alert sought public information.
A citizen lead pointed searchers in the right direction
Daily Bulldog reported that the breakthrough came shortly before 3 p.m. the next day, when information surfaced that Shorey had been seen on Carry Road near Mooselookmeguntic Lake.
Higgins told Sergeant Adams he had seen Shorey “wandering off the roadway toward [a] green gate,” the report said, noting that Higgins did not know at the time that Shorey was missing.
“The breakthrough that led to finding Brian was the information provided by James Higgins,” Chief Caton said, according to the Daily Bulldog. “His information pointed us in the right direction that resulted in finding Brian.”
Chief Caton, Sergeant Adams, Fire Chief Bacon, Deputy Fire Chief Grant and Fire Lieutenant Carmichael searched the camp road and found Shorey on the side of the road, breathing and extremely dehydrated, the report said.
Medical care and recognition
According to the Daily Bulldog, Carmichael administered initial medical aid before Shorey was flown by LifeFlight from Stephen A. Bean Municipal Airport to a Bangor hospital. The report said Shorey was treated and later released.
The story is a reminder that many rescues are not one dramatic moment but a chain: the person who notices someone is missing, the officers and firefighters who keep searching in bad weather, the deputies and wardens who bring specialized support, the drone and K-9 resources, and the citizen who provides the lead that narrows the map.
Sources reviewed
Editorial note: ThinBlueNews used only source-reported facts, preserved the Daily Bulldog spelling note by using “Caton” for the chief while attributing direct quotes to the source, avoided adding private medical details beyond the report, and used a real submitted award-recognition photo rather than generated rescue imagery.