Teen found dead after hiking Katahdin

On the same day that state investigators are to perform an autopsy on the body of a 16-year-old boy found Wednesday in Baxter State Park, counselors today are being brought to the boy’s Millinocket school to help students to deal with their grief.

The body of 16-year-old Dwight Rideout of Millinocket, a student at Stearns High School, was discovered at 7:25 p.m. about 31/2 hours after he was first reported missing and following an extensive search. Rideout’s body was found about 2 miles from Roaring Brook, just below the Basin Ponds, said the park’s chief ranger, Chris Drew.

It was the second fatality in the park in about two weeks and the fifth such search and rescue in about the same amount of time, Drew said.

On Wednesday, Rideout had been hiking Mount Katahdin with a friend, 18-year-old Aaron Doody. with Rideout appearing to have been progressing slower than the older hiker. The two became separated, Baxter State Park officials reported.

Rideout left the Chimney Pond Trail and became lost in difficult terrain that Drew described as being very dense and consisting of thick scrub and dwarf trees. It was late afternoon with temperatures rising into the 90s and rangers reported that black fly activity was extremely high at the time.

Park Ranger Rob Tice first discovered a T-shirt like the one Rideout was wearing and then a short time later the wilderness emergency medical technician found the boy’s body. Park rangers were joined in the search by members of the Lincoln Search and Rescue Team, Dirigo Search and Rescue and the Baxter State Park Trail Crew, a search crew of more than two dozen people.

After a review by the state Medical Examiner’s Office, searchers were authorized to begin the difficult duty of carrying the body to Roaring Brook where six hours later, at 4 a.m. Thursday, the litter carrying the boy’s body was taken away in a vehicle from Bouchard’s Funeral Home.

A representative of the state Medical Examiner’s Office said that an autopsy was expected to be performed today.

Meanwhile, the school and this close-knit community are coming to grips with the death of a teenager who was an honor student and accomplished tennis player. Rideout recently had received an honorable mention in the Penobscot Valley Conference for boys tennis Class C. Deborah Drew, director of guidance at the school said that Rideout was involved in the school’s music program.

Counselors from Stearns High School and the Millinocket Middle School will be available at the high school’s guidance office from 9 a.m. to noon today to assist anyone dealing with the death.