{"id":9665,"date":"2024-01-12T10:44:21","date_gmt":"2024-01-12T10:44:21","guid":{"rendered":""},"modified":"-0001-11-30T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"-0001-11-30T00:00:00","slug":"Dogs-horses-drones-join-search-for-missing-Barnstead-woman-53679586\/","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nne-concord-monitor-2.newspackstaging.com\/?p=9665","title":{"rendered":"Dogs, horses, drones join search for missing Barnstead woman"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"Two
Two members of Manchester Police Department\u2019s mounted patrol were part of the ongoing search for Ashley Turcotte, a missing Barnstead resident.\u00a0<\/figcaption><\/figure>
\"Rob
Rob Russell shows how the drone he operates has the ability to search for infrared light, which indicates a heat source. The drones are part of a search effort on Thursday to locate Ashley Turcotte, who went missing in Barnstead last week.\u00a0<\/figcaption><\/figure>
\"Mike
Mike Dunn, a commercially licensed drone pilot, readies a drone to fly over the woods in a search for Ashley Turcotte, a 31-year-old Barnstead woman who went missing on Jan. 4. A candlelight event called “Light Ashley’s Way Home” is planned for 6:30 p.m. on Friday, Jan. 12, at the Barnstead Elementary School parking lot. The event is intended as a collective expression of hope for her safe return.<\/figcaption><\/figure>
\"\"<\/figure><\/figure>

BARNSTEAD \u2014 It\u2019s now been a week since Ashley Turcotte was last seen. That seven days has included cold nights and a winter storm. Meanwhile, efforts to find her have only accelerated. On Thursday, a search including multiple agencies and volunteers combed the woods near the last place her vehicle was seen and subsequent searches were planned.<\/p>\n

Also planned is a candlelight event called \u201cLight Ashley\u2019s Way Home\u201d at 6:30 p.m. on Friday, Jan. 12. The public is invited to attend the event in the Barnstead Elementary School parking lot, and the gathering is intended to be a collective expression of hope for her safe return. Attendees are asked to bring their own candles, if possible.<\/p>\n

Turcotte, 31, is five feet, five inches tall and has brown eyes and brown hair. She was last seen wearing dark pants and dark, long-sleeved shirt, possibly with a black or blue winter coat.<\/p>\n

Turcotte was reported missing on Thursday, after her vehicle was found parked at the Town Hall lot. Inside were her backpack and her cellphone.<\/p>\n

Anyone with information that might be helpful is asked to contact Barnstead police at 603-269-8100.<\/p>\n

Chief Paul Poirier said police have examined every piece of surveillance footage that might have recorded what happened after Turcotte parked her car, but haven\u2019t found anything useful. There is not a camera that covers the section of the lot where she parked, he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe don\u2019t know where she could be,\u201d Poirier said, adding officers in the department, assisted by many other agencies, have been searching wooded areas near the Town Hall. The location where her car was found is the strongest thread searchers currently have to follow.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s the starting point right now,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

On Thursday, a search involving eight trained dogs took place, covering a radius about a half-mile around the Town Hall lot. Joining the effort were commercially licensed drone operators, who used aerial devices that had thermal imaging as well as night vision.<\/p>\n

Earlier in the week, horse-mounted police officers from Manchester helped to search in the hopes that a more elevated vantage point might reveal something that was missed.<\/p>\n

The search on Thursday included personnel from NH Fish and Game, as well as from New England K9 Search and Rescue.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe do welcome any help that\u2019s available to come out and assist,\u201d Poirier said, noting he specifically wanted to include other law enforcement agencies or search and rescue organizations in that invitation. He asked that individuals join an organized effort, as solo searchers could distract other searchers or obscure available clues or scent trails. \u201cIf there are people who are going to organize a search, they should check in with Barnstead Police Department and take GPS coordinates. We don\u2019t want someone going out to search an unfamiliar area to them and get lost themselves.\u201d<\/p>\n

Poirier said he understands the public\u2019s motivation to help.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s difficult for the family, and I would say people in the town are concerned,\u201d Poirier said. \u201cThey want to help the best they can.\u201d<\/p>\n

In a driveway off Shackford Road, Brandon Turcotte, Ashley\u2019s brother, was watching a team of licensed drone operators who were volunteering their time to help search the area from the air.<\/p>\n

Brandon said \u201cI don\u2019t have words\u201d to describe what the past seven days had been like for him and his family.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re having an overwhelming amount of support, people coming out to ask to do stuff,\u201d Brandon said. Some have been less helpful, such as spreading false reports that Ashley was at a hospital. He also has asked hold off on people entering the woods themselves, for fear of hindering the search efforts of local officials who are better trained and equipped for the task.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe amount of support we have from Barnstead Fire, Barnstead Police Department, everyone in the community, letting us know that everyone wants to help find her\u201d has been a source of comfort, Brandon said. \u201cRight now there\u2019s so many agencies involved, they\u2019re all doing everything they can.\u201d<\/p>\n These articles are being shared by partners in The Granite State News Collaborative. For more information visit collaborativenh.org.<\/em>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

BARNSTEAD \u2014 It\u2019s now been a week since Ashley Turcotte was last seen. That seven days has included cold nights and a winter storm. Meanwhile, efforts to find her have only accelerated. On Thursday, a search including multiple agencies and volunteers…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9,"featured_media":9666,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"newspack_ads_suppress_ads":false,"newspack_popups_has_disabled_popups":false,"newspack_sponsor_sponsorship_scope":"","newspack_sponsor_native_byline_display":"inherit","newspack_sponsor_native_category_display":"inherit","newspack_sponsor_underwriter_style":"inherit","newspack_sponsor_underwriter_placement":"inherit","_newspack_byline_active":true,"_newspack_byline":"by [Author id=9]Adam Drapcho[\/Author] Laconia Daily Sun","newspack_content_restriction_is_exempt":false,"newspack_featured_image_position":"","newspack_post_subtitle":"","newspack_article_summary_title":"Overview:","newspack_article_summary":"","newspack_hide_updated_date":false,"newspack_show_updated_date":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[13,508],"tags":[505],"newspack_spnsrs_tax":[],"coauthors":[563],"class_list":["post-9665","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-police-fire-courts","category-top-headlines-cm","tag-paywall","entry"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/nne-concord-monitor-2.newspackstaging.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/42678223-1.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nne-concord-monitor-2.newspackstaging.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9665","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/nne-concord-monitor-2.newspackstaging.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/nne-concord-monitor-2.newspackstaging.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nne-concord-monitor-2.newspackstaging.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/9"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nne-concord-monitor-2.newspackstaging.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=9665"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/nne-concord-monitor-2.newspackstaging.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9665\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9667,"href":"https:\/\/nne-concord-monitor-2.newspackstaging.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9665\/revisions\/9667"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nne-concord-monitor-2.newspackstaging.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/9666"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nne-concord-monitor-2.newspackstaging.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=9665"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nne-concord-monitor-2.newspackstaging.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=9665"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nne-concord-monitor-2.newspackstaging.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=9665"},{"taxonomy":"newspack_spnsrs_tax","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nne-concord-monitor-2.newspackstaging.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fnewspack_spnsrs_tax&post=9665"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nne-concord-monitor-2.newspackstaging.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcoauthors&post=9665"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}