A 29-year-old parolee considered armed and dangerous remains on the run after a multi-agency search of a Gilmanton home turned up a stash of firearms but not the man police are hunting. Dana Hathaway has eluded officers for weeks, ever since he fled from police in Epsom the previous month, and authorities say he has a documented history of violence toward law enforcement.
The latest search unfolded Monday, Oct. 5, when Gilmanton police were called to a home on Route 140 after the homeowner reported a vehicle parked at the end of the driveway, according to the Laconia Daily Sun. The homeowner told officers that the last person they had seen driving that vehicle was Hathaway, per WMUR.
Officers seized the vehicle, which is now impounded pending search warrants, and recovered many firearms from inside the residence. Neither Hathaway nor his girlfriend were located in the house, according to Newport Dispatch. The Belknap Regional Special Operations Group was called in to help search the property, but Hathaway was not found.
A Weeks-Long Search That Started in Epsom
The search for Hathaway has been going on for weeks, stemming from an incident in which he violated probation and fled from officers near Suncook Valley Highway in Epsom when they attempted to arrest him, per the same WMUR account. Newport Dispatch reports that Hathaway fled from police in Epsom last month, touching off a large-scale search that drew assistance from state police assets at the time.
Police describe Hathaway as having a history of violence toward law enforcement and say he was previously incarcerated for robbery and domestic violence. He is also known to be in possession of firearms despite being a prohibited person, according to Newport Dispatch's report on the Gilmanton search.
Multiple Agencies Join the Gilmanton Response
Monday's search drew a wide response. Gilmanton police were assisted by Alton and Belmont police, New Hampshire State Police, the Belknap County Sheriff's Office, the Belknap Regional Special Operations Group and Gilmanton Fire, the Laconia Daily Sun reports. The scale of that response mirrors the earlier large-scale search in Epsom, which failed to find Hathaway.
As NBC Boston reported, Gilmanton sits about eight miles south of Laconia in central New Hampshire, putting the search in a rural stretch of the Lakes Region. Authorities have asked anyone with information on Hathaway's whereabouts to contact the U.S. Marshals or Gilmanton police.
