By Emily Masters
Times Union
TORONTO — The Canadian firefighter presumed missing on Whiteface Mountain in the Adirondacks, but later found alive and apparently confused in California, has returned home to Toronto, officials said.
Constantinos “Danny” Filippidis flew from Sacramento, Calif., to upstate New York on Wednesday, Feb. 14, to be interviewed by the State Police. Investigators are now “working to verify what he said to them,” State Police spokesman Beau Duffy said Wednesday.
The 49-year-old captain with Toronto Fire Services then returned home on Friday, Feb. 16.
“I know it has been difficult for him and his family,” said Frank Ramagnano, president of the Toronto Professional Fire Fighters’ Association. “Trying to figure out what happened during those days has been frustrating.”
Filippidis is on medical leave from work as he seeks medical treatment, Ramagnano said. The firefighter has declined media interviews while the State Police investigation into his disappearance continues.
Filippidis contacted local authorities from a Sacramento area airport on Tuesday, Feb. 13, ending a massive six-day search for him in Wilmington, Essex County, troopers said.
The search included at least six government agencies, two ski patrols and several local volunteers. More than 135 people spent a combined 7,000 hours on the rugged mountain in varying winter weather conditions, officials said Monday. A helicopter and search dogs were also called in to assist.
Filippidis had been last seen at the Whiteface Mountain ski resort’s mid-station about 2:30 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 7. He was part of a group of Toronto firefighters making their annual ski trip. His colleagues reported him missing at 4:30 p.m., when he did not return from his last run of the day. Police found his car, passport and other identification cards at the resort, officials said.
Around midday on Tuesday, Feb. 13, Filippidis called his wife, who was in Lake Placid meeting with the search party, Ramagnano said.
“Apparently he was confused and he wasn’t able to give direct answers,” Ramagnano said during a news conference in Toronto broadcast by CTV.
“He called her by a nickname. She quickly recognized the voice and that it was him, and then they lost contact. He contacted her again and they kept him on the phone and asked him to call 911 to get him help as soon as possible.”
Police in Sacramento found Filippidis still wearing the ski clothing he had on when he disappeared, including his helmet and googles, the union president said. Filippidis was given medical attention and taken to a local hospital, where he later spoke with his two children on the phone, Ramagnano said.
Filippidis told deputies he remembered little, but thought he’d suffered a head injury, rode in a “big rig-style truck” and slept “a lot,” Sgt. Shaun Hampton of the Sacramento County Sheriff’s Department told the Post-Standard of Syracuse.
Filippidis said he bought an iPhone to call his wife and told deputies that a truck dropped him off in downtown Sacramento, where he got a haircut, Hampton said.
State Police Maj. John Tibbitts, who commands Troop B in the North Country, said during a Feb. 14 press conference that it was too early in the missing person investigation to comment on details provided from others. He also declined to estimate the cost of the six-day search, which involved a helicopter and up to 140 people a day, some combing the snow with hands.
Police distributed a picture of Filippidis taken in California on Feb. 13, hoping people who recognize him can help solve the mystery.
“He wants to find out where he was as badly as we want to find out where he was,” Tibbitts said.
Anyone who recalls seeing Filippidis between Feb. 7 and 13 is asked to call State Police investigators at 518-873-2750.
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