Thank you for the welcome.
I used to live off of route 29 in Fulton county and I can say at this time of the year we would see an influx of drifters up and down 29. As for the winter there was constant reports of break ins at seasonal camps. So yes it would be very easy and does occur. We would know when the weather was getting better because we would see the same people walking towards town. It used to make me wonder where they stayed all winter. They never caused us a problem and they were never thumbing for a ride, just kind of like they were out for a long hike. I always thought of the famous Adirondack hermit
http://noahjohnrondeau. Most inhabitants in this area are very resourceful, even if you live in one of the bigger towns.
The winter weather can make life even more miserable and difficult as its not unusual to get lake effect snow for four days after a nor'easter just dumped a few feet on you. And it's worse up in Hamilton county. There is only about 4000 full time residents in that county. A snow machine is a must! And they can be hard to afford.
The area took a huge hit during the recession, businesses left, people their homes, changing laws in the years following made huge local employers leave the state, Beech Nut moved and had a mix up and local money was lost from there. My husband and I used to drive to Albany or further every day to be able to pay our high school and property taxes, bills and mortgage. But we could afford to. Most out there do not make the hourly wage or salary to cover the sometimes over $5 a gallon gas to get to work. And I am talking about Fulton and Montgomery counties. Hamilton county has even less work, is further from the more job rich areas and has less resources.
This situation really scares me and I'm trying to think positively about what could have happened. There are a lot of bears in the area. Under normal conditions they are nothing to worry about, just observe from a distance, keep trash and food locked up, don't leave bird food out in good weather months. Maybe she came home and spooked one, which in turn spooked herself and in the dark ran into the woods. Maybe she is outside the search grid with a leg injury, but surviving. It has happened. I was hiking a couple years ago in the area near Dexter Lake and a helicopter was flying just above the tree line, turned around and flew back over me and I wondered if they were looking for somebody. I couldn't really see them through the tree tops but I figured they were using infrared so I waved. That night I checked the news and sure enough we had a missing elderly camper. They found him ALIVE 8 days after he went missing. He was outside the search area, with a leg injury.
http://http://www.uticaod.com/article/20140717/news/140719572 So it is possible. And if it truly was 9:30pm on 06/22/16 that she went missing as opposed to 7:30am 06/23 (just an example), it would have been dark and easier to scare. I don't care how well you know an area, how long you've lived there, how unshakable you are, dark woods can scare anybody in the right circumstance. This is just my very wishful brainstorming.
Sorry for being long winded. No matter where I live in the world this will always be home to me. I wish I was there right now.
I feel like there will be physical evidence in this case.. tire tracks, foot prints, finger prints... things of that nature. I'm confident LE has already gathered what they can. I'm glad to hear they began an air search for her.
