Congress candidate found alive

Portsmouth Herald
Apr. 08, 2006

DOVER — Rye businessman and congressional candidate Gary Dodds was found alive Thursday night more than 24 hours after he went missing following a car accident on the Spaulding Turnpike.

A volunteer searcher and her dog from New England Canine found Dodds in the woods more than a mile from the turnpike around 10:30 p.m., police said in a televised press conference from the scene. Rescuers said they believe Dodds crossed the Bellamy River. He was discovered covered in leaves, lying on the ground in a swampy, brush-filled area about 100 yards behind a residential neighborhood.

Officials with New Hampshire Department of Fish and Game, which assisted in the search, said Dodds was in and out of consciousness, and unable to walk. He was transported to Wentworth-Douglass Hospital and is expected to survive.

“He wasn’t in great shape, so it’s a good thing the dogs were here to locate him tonight,” Fish and Game Lt. Kevin Jordan said.

Dodds, a Democrat, has been campaigning in the race for a seat in the U.S. House currently occupied by Rep. Jeb. Bradley, a Republican.

The rescue official from New England Canine who located Dodds said the candidate “didn’t really remember what happen.” She said there was no visible trauma or bleeding from his head, but that he appeared disoriented.

State police said Dodds, 41, disappeared after his 1997 Lincoln Continental hit the guardrail while driving southbound on the Spaulding Turnpike at 8:16 p.m. Wednesday. When emergency personnel responded, said state police, the car was empty.

Police said no blood was found at the accident scene, in an area between Spur Road and the turnpike. The car’s air bags were deployed. Footsteps were found in the snow, leading away from the car, police said.

Officials said they would need to examine all the clues collected at the scene before they could determine exactly what happened to Dodds after his accident. They said they would also interview Dodds when his medical condition was more stable.

“I don’t have an explanation of how he would end up (across the river),” Jordan said. “It is odd.”

Police from multiple agencies, assisted by tracking dogs and helicopters, searched miles of woods looking for Dodds Wednesday evening and all of Thursday.

His wife, Cynthia, assisted police at the search scene during the day and returned when police announced they had located Dodds.

“She was very focused in assisting us in any way she could,” a state trooper said. “She knows him best.”

Earlier in the day, Cynthia Dodds told the Herald that she last spoke with her husband Wednesday at about 5:45 p.m., 2½ hours before the accident. She said they discussed “coordinated drop-offs” of Accent On Home and Garden magazines, a publication the couple co-own and publish.

Cynthia Dodds said she believed her husband had evening meetings in the Rochester-Somersworth area following the magazine drop-offs and was commuting at the time of the accident. Dodds’ wife also described the accident as “minor,” with the Lincoln’s windshield unscathed.

“Very strange” is how she described the circumstances surrounding her husband’s disappearance, citing his status as a part-time Rye firefighter and emergency medical technician.

“He knows not to leave the scene of an accident,” she said.

Dodds’ wife said she thought her husband had his wallet and that she had his cell phone.

Dover and Newington, as well as state Fish and Game and Marine Patrol. The Dover-Durham special services team, composed of firefighters and police officers from the two towns, also conducted an all-day search before initiating a door-to-door investigation asking neighboring residents for permission to search outbuildings and other private property.