Man missing for three months turns up at camp

HAILESBORO — A Fowler man missing for three months showed up early Saturday at a hunting camp in the town of Fowler where his father and several of his friends were staying.

"My husband called me just hollering, 'He's alive, he's alive,'" said Janice Dodds, mother of David I. Dodds. "He's doing fairly well. His feet are the biggest problem. They think they're going to be able to save his toes."

Mr. Dodds suffers from depression, his mother said.

He left his parents' Hull Road home Sept. 14 and hadn't been seen since, although his family believed he went back briefly to his own house the first week he was missing. Mr. Dodds, 43, had disappeared previously but only for half a day.

It isn't known where he stayed during the time he spent in the woods or what he ate, but he lost approximately 30 pounds.

"He looked terribly thin but he was dehydrated," Mrs. Dodds said. "We haven't pressed him. We're not asking any questions. He'll tell us when he's ready."

State police, who led the search for Mr. Dodds, said they haven't had a chance to talk to him.

One of the things he ate was honey from a hole in a tree, Mrs. Dodds said he told his family. He had not stayed at the hunting camp, which is used frequently.

Mr. Dodds was treated at Edward John Noble Hospital, Gouverneur, and transferred to Upstate Medical University, Syracuse. His socks had to be cut off because they were frozen to his feet. He had a sleeping bag, Mrs. Dodds said.

She didn't know how to explain what her emotions were while her son was gone.

"I'm not exactly sure what word you would use to describe how I've felt. My daughter and I had a rough time. The men kept saying he could take care of himself," she said. "We're very thrilled he came back."