Brother of Missing Maine Man Found Days Later in Woods Says It’s a 'Miracle He’s Still With Us'

A Maine man who was found alive in the woods four days after he disappeared en route to a meeting, is recovering and doing well, according to his brother. 

Robert ‘B.A.’ Altmaier provided an update about his brother, Michael Altmaier, 75, who was stuck in a bog before being rescued on July 12.

“He is doing pretty good. He is doing better. It’s a miracle he is still with us,” Robert said in an interview with the Kennebec Journal. “When he fell off the cliff, he hit his head really hard. He wandered around for the first three days.”

In a news release shared on Facebook on July 13, the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries & Wildlife said that Michael, a resident of New Sharon, was last seen on July 8.

The department added that Michael was driving on Colby Miller Road in Wilton for a meeting in Weld, but he never arrived. They said Mount Blue State Park staff at the Mount Blue State Park Scenic Overlook in Weld found Michael's car on the night of July 11. 

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A search commenced for Michael on the morning of July 12. Authorities said a game warden and a K-9 found him along a bog about three-quarters of a mile from where his car was found.

“It is believed Altmaier had fallen down over a ledged embankment Monday and likely became disoriented and ended up in the area of the bog that evening where he eventually had fallen and was unable to get up,” officials said.

First responders gave Michael first aid at the scene. He was transported by helicopter to a waiting ambulance that later took him to a hospital, where he was admitted overnight.

Responders said Altmaier was in “surprisingly good condition” despite being in the bog for a number of days, according to the department. 

His brother Robert said, via CBS affiliate WGME, that Michael was scheduled to give a history presentation at Camp Kawanhee in Weld when he went missing.

"For two or three days, it's like he disappeared from the universe,” Robert told the outlet. 

Robert said Michael slipped on moss after he went up an overlook to snap photos of Webb Lake for his camp presentation. 

With no food, Michael drank what was available to survive and walked in the hopes of finding someone, Robert said in his interview with the Kennebec Journal.

Robert, who said Michael is recovering at a rehabilitation facility in Franklin County, went on to thank everybody who joined in the search efforts.

“Each day he is getting physically and mentally better,” Robert told the newspaper. “There was so much love and prayers for him. That was really important ... I can’t say enough about the search party.”