Two-day search for avid outdoorsman Ray Martin ends in tragedy

by Dan McClelland

Nearly two days of searching the woods on the back side of Big Tupper Lake last week ended in tragedy when the body of Tupper businessman and community leader Ray Martin was found in the Bridge Brook Bay area, his favorite hunting spot.

As many as 300 volunteers, under the direction of the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation rangers, environmental police and the state police, combed the state land in the Town of Piercefield Wednesday and Thursday looking for the owner of Raymond J. Martin Accounting, an avid and well experienced sportsman.

Ray left the Martin Family camp on the west side of the lake early Tuesday and traveled by boat a short ways down the lake to hunt the Bridge Brook Pond area where he had hunted since he was a teenager.

His wife Lori was also staying with him at camp. Ray apparently called Lori about noon Tuesday. When the able outdoorsman didn't return at dark Lori knew something was wrong and called their son Jay.

Jay came over by boat and went to look for his father. He was accompanied on that initial search by his uncle Tom Brunette, friends John Tice and John Quinn.

They found Ray's boat on the shore of Black Bay but couldn't find any trace of him. Jay notified his mother to call 911 which she did and they continued to search until about 2a.m. Wednesday. Some area rangers, including Adam Baldwin, apparently joined them that first evening. Ranger Baldwin, who is assigned to sections of St. Lawrence County including Piercefield, directed some of the search operations last week.

Temperatures dropped below freezing both Tuesday and Wednesday nights, with light snow falling Tuesday night.

According to State Police spokeswoman Kristin Lowman, “On Tuesday, November 2, at around 8:30p.m., state police were notified of a missing hunter. Raymond Martin, 66, of Tupper Lake, went hunting in the Horseshoe Lake Wild Forest and did not return home.

“State Police, New York Department of Environmental Conservation Forest Rangers, Environmental Conservation Police Officers, Tupper Lake Fire Department and volunteers searched for Mr. Martin on Tuesday night, Wednesday, and Thursday.

“At around noon on Thursday, November 4, Mr. Martin was located in the area he was hunting,” she reported.

St. Lawrence County Coroner June Wood pronounced Mr. Martin dead at the scene.

Early Wednesday search volunteers met at the state boat launch site at Moody where teams were organized by the available rangers. There were over 50 vehicles in the parking lot that morning, many of them DEC vehicles and boat trailers. Search dogs were also dispatched to the search site at Bridge Brook. Due to the terrain there could only be a half a dozen or so searchers assigned to each ranger.

Unfortunately there was a shortage of rangers Wednesday to guide the parties, so some volunteers were sent home mid-afternoon that day. The parking lot reflected that.

The search ramped up dramatically Thursday morning when more than 200 searchers showed up at the Tupper Lake Fire Station in the village emergency services building, where the command center had been moved from Moody. More than 100 cars and trucks filled the Santa Clara Ave. corridor.

All the fire department vehicles were moved out of the garage to make room for the command center.

Tables were set up inside staffed by local ladies. It was the reception area to dispense donated food stuffs to feed the volunteers when they were shuttled back and forth between the command center, the boat launch and the search site that morning. That operation was directed by Kelly Fleury, a staff accountant with Mr. Martin's firm. A number of local businesses donated drinks and food, including coffee and chili, for that effort.

“We estimate there were over 300 people involved in all...it was very moving,” Jay Martin said this week.

Ray's cousins Rob Beausoleil of Pennsylvania and Dave Beausoleil of New Jersey came up to join the search, along with dozens and dozens of friends and fellow hunters here. Other volunteers came from across the region to assist.

According to reports this week Ray had bagged a six-point buck Tuesday and was in the process of carrying it out when he was stricken. See editorial and tribute from a friend, Dan Christmas, on our editorial page this week.