Man Vanishes on NY Ski Trip, Turns Up in Calif. 6 Days Later

Police say firefighter appears to have suffered head injury, memory loss
By Rob Quinn,  Newser Staff
Posted Feb 15, 2018 3:39 AM CST
Man Vanishes on NY Ski Trip, Turns Up in Calif. 6 Days Later
In this Feb. 13, 2018, photo provided by the Sacramento County Sheriff's Department in Sacramento, Calif., via the New York State Police, Constantinos "Danny" Filippidis is shown.   (Sacramento County Sheriff's Department)

A Toronto fire captain's skiing trip to upstate New York turned into a cross-country trip to California—and authorities say he has no idea how. Constantinos "Danny" Filippidis, who was reported missing in the Whiteface Mountain area Feb. 7, turned up 2,500 miles away, confused and still wearing his ski clothes, the AP reports. Sgt. Shaun Hampton of the Sacramento County Sheriff's Department says the 49-year-old called police from Sacramento's airport Tuesday morning, identifying himself as a missing person, reports the CBC. Hampton says Filippidis, who showed no signs of impairment, said he remembered little, but he believed he had suffered a head injury and could recall riding in a "big rig-style truck." When colleagues last saw him, he said he was going for a final ski run by himself.

Hampton says Filippidis bought an iPhone early Tuesday and made a confused call to his wife, who recognized his voice and urged him to call 911. Authorities say thousands of people, including around 100 Toronto firefighters, assisted in the search in rugged terrain around the ski resort, where Filippidis had left his car in the parking lot. Frank Ramagnano, chief of the Toronto firefighters' union, says Filippidis appears "confused and was unable to give direct answers." Authorities are asking anyone who might have seen the firefighter during the time he was missing to come forward with information. New York State Police Maj. John Tibbitts says Filippidis doesn't appear to have broken any laws, but he has agreed to be interviewed by police and "wants to find out where he was as badly as we want to find out where he was." (More missing person stories.)

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