Crime & Safety

UPDATE: Former Batavia Man Found After Six Days in Japan Mountains

A former Batavia man has been found after spending six days battling the elements in the mountains of Japan, according to the "Find Michael Blodgett" Facebook page.

Mike Blodgett, who has family ties to Batavia and Montgomery, went camping near Dorogawa on March 23 with plans to hike into the mountains to visit the Omine Temple before spending a night on the top of the mountain on March 24, according to an e-mail from his wife, Ikuchan Blodgett. 

His wife reported him missing on March 26 when he did not return to Osaka as he had planned. Blodgett, an English teacher, did not show up to teach an evening class. 

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An update on the "Find Michael Blodgett" Facebook page posted early Sunday simply read: "Just got word, Mike is ALIVE!!!" His wife reported Mike was physically weak but his mind is clear. He had some frostbite on his toes and fingers and was dehydrated, according to the Facebook update. 

More details were posted later Sunday morning explaining what happened during Blodgett's trek into the mountains. Blodgett ran into trouble while descending the mountain on March 24.

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He slipped 160 to 230 feet, tried to find his way but slipped again — "this time for a long time" — and also lost his phone, according to the Facebook page. He then slipped into a river/waterfall, was soaking wet before he eventually found a small, old, abandoned shack where he spent six nights. 

"There weren't any trails around this shack and but still he tried to find a trail," according to a Sunday Facebook post. "Don't know which day, maybe today, but he went down and found a river so walked along the river but then he came to a point where he could not pass so had to go back. He tried another way but was snowy."

Blodgett said Saturday was the hardest day as he descended the mountain and got to a home at the foothill mountains where he called for help, according to the Find Michael Blodgett Facebook page

Blodgett has lived in Osaka for the past five years. Him and his wife have a 3-year-old daughter, Olivia, and are expecting another child in May, according to a friend of the family, Natalie Worthington. 

Blodgett graduated from Batavia High School. His parents, Diane and Art, are long-time Batavia residents, and his sister, Anne, lives in Motgomery. 

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The below information was updated on Saturday, March 29. 

Mike Blodgett, a former Batavia man who has family ties to Batavia and Montgomery, has gone missing in the mountains of Japan, according to reports from his family. 

Blodgett, 35, went camping near Dorogawa in March 23 with plans to hike into the mountains to visit the Omine Temple before spending a night on the top of the mountain on March 24, according to an e-mail from his wife, Ikuchan Blodgett. 

The family is unclear if he ended up staying in the mountains. He was expected in the Yoshino area on March 25 before returning home on March 26. 

"He did this course before,"Ikuchan Blodgett wrote in the e-mail. "When he did it, he did all the hiking in a day."

Blodgett, an English teacher in Osaka, was expected back to teach between 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. on May 26 but did not return, according to his wife. Ikuchan Blodgett said she contacted police and a search of the mountain area began on March 27. 

On Friday, search-and-rescue teams planned to search the area near the camp site and hiking courses in the area, according to Ikuchan Blodgett. 

Blodgett has lived in Osaka for the past five years. Him and his wife have a 3-year-old daughter, Olivia, and are expecting another child in May, according to a friend of the family, Natalie Worthington. 

Blodgett graduated from Batavia High School. His parents, Diane and Art, are long-time Batavia residents, and his sister, Anne, lives in Motgomery. 

In Worthington's e-mail to Patch, she encouraged this news to be shared on social media sites to spread the word and "put pressure on Japan to keep searching for Blodgett."  


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