Remains found in Barnstead, identified as Ashley Turcotte

BARNSTEAD — Search and rescue personnel recovered remains Saturday morning, later identified as those of Ashley Turcotte, less than a mile away from where she was last seen.

Turcotte, 32, of Barnstead, was reported missing in January, and identified by the state medical examiner. Cause of death is pending result of an autopsy by the state medical examiner. 

“We found her shortly before 11 a.m. Saturday morning,” New Hampshire Fish and Game Conservation Officer Lt. Adam Cheney said Monday. “Her body was located off of New Road in the woods.” 

Police Chief Paul Poirier said teams of conservation officers, State Police, volunteers and local police split up and started searching at about 9 a.m. Saturday.

A group of about 70 law enforcement officers, volunteers and a private company called New England Canine conducted line searches, combing over a 1-1.5-mile radius around Turcotte’s car, which was parked at Barnstead Town Hall the day she went missing.

Police don't suspect foul play, Poirier said. Officials are not investigating any criminal activity and do not consider Turcotte's death suspicious. Barnstead PD is now the primary lead in the investigation. 

Cheney said the remains were found about 50 yards into the woods, about 0.5 miles down New Road from Town Hall on the opposite side of the river. 

The remains were located in a densely-wooded area and drones engaged in recent searches would have likely been unable to spot her body because it was shrouded by trees. 

“It had a pretty heavy canopy of Hemlock trees above her,” Cheney noted. 

Line searches including K9 officers were conducted on Jan. 11, and came within 0.1 mile of Turcotte’s remains, just out of range for the dogs.

Fish and Game officers changed their intended search area after an investigation conducted by the Belknap County Sheriff's Department and Barnstead police revealed Turcotte left her debit card in her car at Town Hall after making purchases at Dollar General.

Instead of searching a radius around Dollar General, officers focused on the area nearest her vehicle, where she was last spotted the day she went missing. 

Members of a volunteer group from the National Guard and Fish and Game officers located her body Saturday morning. Her remains were intact as conditions prevented her decomposition, Cheney said. 

The discovery caps off nearly two months of weekly search efforts made by law enforcement officers, civilian volunteers using drones and a private investigator from Maine. 

Rob Russell, owner of 2A Tactical gun shop in Barrington, has led a team of volunteers in the search for Turcotte every weekend since she went missing. 

Using drones equipped with thermal imaging cameras, Russell scoured the area where Turcotte was last seen, at times finding areas of interest to relay to Barnstead police. 

Kim Horman, an employee at 2A Tactical, and Mike Dunn, a U.S. Army veteran and civil gas engineer at Unitil in Portsmouth, assisted Russell in searching for Turcotte. Dunn is also a licensed drone pilot.

Working as a team, the trio spread out about 0.25 miles from one another, piloting their drones at different altitudes and searching along the river and surrounding areas for any indication of Turcotte on the ground.

Russell runs the operation from a mobile command post in the back of his SUV, which holds batteries, radio equipment and a video monitor to enable the group to keep in touch throughout the search.

“This is where these two-way radios are very important,” Russell explained. “That way we can always be in communication with each other.”

From a clearing in the woods located off a dirt road southeast of the high school, Russell, Dunn and Horman set about their work on a Saturday morning earlier this month.

The skies were clear, temperatures cold, winds calm and visibility perfect. 

“We’re not Mavericks,” Russell said, noting they are always in communication with Poirier when conducting searches. “We’re not ghost hunters.”

Russell communicates with Belknap County dispatch in order to calm the worries of citizens who may see him at work and contact the police.

“Everything we’re doing is lawful,” he said. “Even though I used to be a cop, my role here is that I’m a drone pilot.”

Russell offers his services to locate missing people and animals free of charge. He’s recently been searching for a missing dog in Acton.

“It means a lot to these dog owners, because these dogs are family to them,” he said. 

The drone Russell used, a DJI Mavic 3-T, is able to generate a QR code of specific waypoints he can share with law enforcement partners so they can pinpoint a location of interest. 

“This is just amazing technology to me,” he said. “I’m blown away by the safety potential that this has.”

Russell said he’s happy to volunteer his time in searching for missing persons because of a moral imperative.

“I have a sister,” he noted. “If some family member of mine went missing, I would hope that people would go out searching for a family member of mine — it’s that simple.”

Russell brought his drone up to 380 feet as he explained pilots must use an app on their cellphone to check the airspace for flight restrictions. Airplanes always take precedence over drones.

The thermal imaging technology is paramount in searching for missing persons, even if a person is already deceased.

“Even a deceased body will have a heat signature,” he explained. “Because everything absorbs heat differently.” 

Wind speeds were hovering between eight and 12.5 knots that Saturday, which is as close to ideal as it gets. Russell has spent time flying in harsh 30 knot winds, which causes problems for drones. 

“Basically I’m looking for anything out of the ordinary,” he said. “This does not take the place of foot searches — it augments them.”

Dunn was simultaneously searching the area with another drone, stopping only to change its battery roughly every 44 minutes.

“You’re looking for clothing, signs that a human has been there,” Dunn said, “objects that are not natural. What I look for are just things that are out of place.”

Noting that individuals who have contracted hypothermia have a tendency to undress, Dunn was also keeping an eye out for articles of clothing.

“Legally I cannot fly this out of my visual range,” Dunn explained. “You need to maintain a visual line of sight — that’s a requirement.”

The reporter was tasked with keeping an eye on the drone in the sky and looking for oncoming aircraft.

“Sometimes it takes a while and you’ve got to cover the ground multiple times,” Dunn explained regarding the difficulty of searching for humans. “The conditions have got to be just right.”

Russell’s drone is not waterproof, and he’s fundraising to purchase a Matrice 30-T, a more robust model. To learn more about supporting his search and rescue volunteer work, visit givesendgo.com/GBXED.