Brunswick

Two grieving wives and their families remain in a state of suspended shock over strange disappearances and ongoing investigations in the cases of two men who went missing a year ago, one while hunting with buddies in the Adirondacks, and the other on his Saratoga County property.

Despite massive search efforts, no trace has been found of either Thomas Messick, 82, of Brunswick, or Fred "Fritz" Drumm, 68, of the town of Saratoga.

Both families are dumbfounded by their disappearances, which remain shrouded in mystery and perplexity. A gnawing uncertainty clouded their Thanksgiving as they continued to pray for closure.

"I don't know how to live without him," said Messick's wife, Beverly, who celebrated their 57th wedding anniversary alone in June. "I know he's in heaven and he didn't make any stops along the way. I miss him so much. He was my everything."

The investigation into Messick's disappearance on Nov. 15, 2015, is classified as an active missing person case by authorities. He disappeared a short distance off Lily Pond Road as part of a hunting party that entered the woods near Horicon in Warren County. No evidence and no clues have been found, despite weeks of searching the area with State Police helicopters, state Department of Environmental Conservation forest rangers, search-and-rescue teams, specially trained search dogs and hundreds of volunteers, family and friends.

"The FBI told me something isn't right with his case, but they don't know what," his wife said. "They won't share any theories if they have them. The FBI said until they make a discovery, they're never going to know."

Messick lost his eye in an accident with an explosive device in his early 20s. When he disappeared, he had poor vision, limited hearing and a history of cardiac issues. He had also just gotten over a case of shingles and nearly decided not to go on the annual hunting trip. After 55 years of hunting with longtime friends, also senior men, at the Messick's hunting camp in Hague, they decided to try a Horicon property for the first time. Messick and the other hunters planned to meet up again after a couple hours. He was last seen at 10 a.m. and when Messick did not show up at the agreed-upon time, his friends called forest rangers and they searched from 4:30 p.m. until midnight.

Messick was wearing duck boots, camouflage pants and coat, gloves and his beloved red-and-black checkered hat that he'd worn for decades. He carried a rifle and walkie-talkie.

"He'd been in the woods since he was a boy and if he got lost, he would have cut a piece of his jacket and tied it to a tree and done the other things he learned," she said. His wife said her greatest fear was that he was the victim of foul play, although authorities told her there was no evidence to support that scenario.

"The only thing I can think of is that maybe someone came by in a quad, hurt him, got scared and drove him out of there," said his wife, who was so mournful she moved out of the main house she shared with Messick into an in-law apartment next to it. "I keep praying they'll find him so we have some closure. I keep worrying that I didn't tell him I loved him the last day I saw him alive."

'Seemed to evaporate'

In Saratoga County, Ruth Drumm has endured an emotionally trying year of similar grief and unanswered questions. It was Thanksgiving morning one year ago, Nov. 24, 2015, when Ruth Drumm left her husband at their Saratoga home on Burgoyne Road. She went to a grandparents' breakfast.

"He wasn't there when I got back. We still have no clue what happened. He just seemed to evaporate," she said. There was no activity on his credit cards and investigators turned up no evidence or leads on what is classified as an active missing person case.

Saratoga County Sheriff's Office investigators continue to work on the case. "His whereabouts remain unknown. No evidence of foul play has been found," according to a news release from the sheriff's office this week. Drumm's family has posted a $5,000 reward and authorities asked hunters and woodsmen to call the sheriff's office if they discover any clothing or other items that might have belonged to Drumm. He was an avid hunter and his property included 170 acres of hilly farmland, woods, brush and water from the nearby Fish Creek. More than 150 people, including search-and-rescue teams and volunteer firefighters joined in the search that included a helicopter and specially trained search dogs.

His wife also conferred with psychics and dowsers, who practice a form of divination to locate water, gravesites and other features.

"It's hard to hold out hope because I've tried every route and we're just nowhere. It's an ongoing mystery," she said. She conceded she has considered her husband was kidnapped, but authorities have said there is no evidence to support that theory.

"This has been so hard on my kids and grandchildren," said the mother of two and grandmother of three who were to gather at her house Thursday for a subdued Thanksgiving meal. "I just pray all the time we'll find him and get closure. I'm hoping the reward gets us some leads."

She met Wednesday with a search-and-rescue team from Rensselaer County that use bloodhounds and they'll resume a search next week. "We're not giving up. We really need to know," she said.

Meanwhile, on the one-year anniversary of her husband's disappearance on Nov. 15, Beverly Messick, her three sons and the hunters who were with her husband when he disappeared hiked into the woods near where Messick was last seen.

They placed a cross on a tree and held a small religious ceremony led by her son, Eugene. "We all prayed and told Tom how much we loved him. It was a very traumatic day," she said. She is 74 years old and was 17 when she married Messick, nine years older than her. He was a Korean War-era veteran.

More Information Anyone with information on Drumm can call the Saratoga County Sheriff's Office at 885-6761. For Messick, call the DEC Forest Rangers at 897-1300. For Boardman call State Police in Plattsburgh at 563-3761. See More Collapse

She praised the extraordinary efforts of rangers, searchers and volunteers in Horicon and from $3,050 in donations sent to the family, she gave $1,500 to the forest rangers to fund a scholarship in her husband's name and $1,550 to the firehouse in Horicon where volunteers prepared food that served as the center of search efforts.

Messick spent Thanksgiving at her son Robert's house with family members. Back at her home, Messick's yellow Labrador retriever, Willie, keeps watch hour after hour at a window, waiting for his master who never returned.

Search for Vermont man

In an unrelated case, State Police, state forest rangers, search-and-rescue teams and hundreds of volunteers continued to search the Adirondacks for Munn Boardman, 58, a South Hero, Vt., man who was reported missing Saturday night from his hunting camp in Ellenburg Center.

State officials held a news conference Wednesday to update the massive search, which continues without any leads. Wind, snow and cold made the search difficult. Officials did not know what type of clothing or gear Boardman had with him when he disappeared.

"We're still scratching our heads and the conditions have made this very challenging," said DEC Forest Rangers Capt. John Streiff, head of Region 5, who is leading the search and also led the search for Messick. "It certainly is unsettling to be looking for Boardman a year after Messick."

In 23 years, Streiff keeps a half-dozen missing person cases tacked up to a bulletin board that remain open investigations. He confers annually with State Police investigators on the cold cases, some of which are unresolved after nearly two decades.

"I don't believe in aliens or foul play," Streiff said. "It might seem like they just vanished, but the woods are very thick and I'm confident they are out there somewhere, covered with foliage while the woods have grown up around them."

Statistically, Streiff said search efforts end up locating the vast majority of missing persons quickly. Common factors of those never found include tardy notification, elderly person, previous medical condition and extreme weather that arrived without warning.

"We never stop thinking about or looking for these people," Streiff said. "We owe that to their families. Unfortunately, we don't find them all."

pgrondahl@timesunion.com • 518-454-5623 • @PaulGrondahl