Dental records have confirmed that a body found Tuesday in the Allegany State Park are that of the Rev. Thomas B. Hamilton, a hiker who went missing on Nov. 11, 2010.
At 12:40 p.m. Tuesday, a hiker reported to the New York State Park Police that he had found what he believed to be human remains near the Art Roscoe Cross Country Ski Trails in the Red House area of Allegany State Park, which is near where Hamilton was initially reported missing.
Hamilton, who was 92 years old when he went missing, had gone hiking on Nov. 10, 2010, with his 66-year-old daughter, Rebecca Huffman. The two had reportedly spent the night in the park after straying from the ski trail near the Red House area and became disoriented in the dark. According to police reports, at the time Huffman said her father was too weak to continue hiking, so she began to hike back to the Summit lot, where they had parked, in order to get help for him.
Once she made it back to the vehicle, she was unable to lead searchers to where she had left her father. The original search lasted eight days after Hamilton was reported missing before weather and other factors made it too difficult to continue.