Thomas Messick

Status:

Open

Jurisdiction:

New York State Police (NY)

Missing From:

Horicon, New York

Summary:

Thomas Edward Messick Sr., an 82-year-old Army veteran and experienced hunter from Troy, New York, disappeared on November 15, 2015, while hunting with friends near Lily Pond in Horicon's Lake George Wild Forest. Despite an extensive search involving thousands of hours and hundreds of volunteers, no trace of him has ever been found. His case remains active and unsolved.

Vital Statistics

Circumstances of Disappearance:

On Sunday, November 15, 2015, Thomas Messick Sr. and a group of six friends and family members arrived at state land in the Lake George Wild Forest near Brant Lake around 10:00 a.m. to go deer hunting. The group separated into positions near Lily Pond, with the younger hunters planning to drive deer toward the older, more stationary hunters. Messick was positioned on a tree stump in a static watching position, approximately 100 feet away from another hunter, with plans for the group to meet at a designated rendezvous point at 2:00 p.m. When the hunting party reassembled late that afternoon around 3:00 p.m., Messick was not present. His companion, who had been stationed nearby, had returned on time, but Messick did not. The hunting party immediately began searching the heavily wooded area around Lily Pond. At 4:30 p.m., after failing to locate him, they contacted forest rangers. Four state forest rangers searched the area until midnight that day. Messick was last definitively seen at approximately 10:00 a.m. on November 15, 2015.

Additional Details:

Extensive search efforts followed Messick's disappearance. Initial intensive searches in November and December 2015 involved over 300 volunteers and professional search teams per day for over two weeks, accumulating more than 10,000 total search hours. Search resources included forest rangers, State Police, Department of Environmental Conservation personnel, Albany County Sheriff's Deputies, Department of Corrections officers, volunteer fire departments, search-and-rescue teams, helicopters, dive teams, K-9 units, and sniffer dogs trained to detect cadavers. The search expanded to a 1.5-mile radius from Messick's last known location and covered hundreds of acres including dense woods, steep terrain, and wetlands near Lily Pond. On January 21, 2016, state officials officially scaled back the intensive search efforts, though periodic searches and training exercises continued. In summer 2018, cadaver-detection dogs were deployed to search portions of the woods and fields near the disappearance site, yielding no results. A decade later in 2025, search-and-rescue teams continued training exercises in the area. The case remains classified as an active missing person investigation by the New York State Police, Troop G, Queensbury. State Police investigated the circumstances and found no evidence of criminal conduct. The family conducted their own memorial service on November 15, 2016, the one-year anniversary, placing a cross on a tree near Messick's last known location. Messick's wife of over 50 years, Beverly, expressed hope for closure, celebrating their 57th wedding anniversary alone in June 2016 without resolution. Family members theorized that Messick either suffered a medical emergency (given his history of heart problems) or became lost despite his extensive woodsman experience.

Case Last Updated:

Nov 02, 2026