New Hampshire officials are continuing to investigate what happened to a 72-year-old North Carolina man lost for more than two weeks who made his way back to his home state.

Fish and Game Col. Martin Garabedian said Tuesday there are “a lot of unanswered questions” now being looked into by both his agency and New Hampshire State Police.

The five-day search for Hugh Armstrong in the White Mountain National Forest area not only involved hundreds of volunteers, but is the largest search-and-rescue effort of the year so far.

Garabedian said the final cost is still being calculated.

Whether Armstrong's family will be asked to repay those costs will not be decided until more information is known, he said.

Armstrong said he spoke Monday with Fish and Game Lt. Jim Kneeland, who asked him where he likely fell and injured himself, putting him in a state of amnesia that led him on an odyssey of nearly 1,000 miles between Rumney and Marion, N.C.

Armstrong said he suffered an injury to the right side of his head off a trail in a ravine near the intersection of Ellsworth Hill Road and Doetown Road. When he awoke it was dark, and he could only think of moving south and west.

Armstrong said he plans to see a doctor today for a follow-up exam. He said an initial CT scan found no evidence of damage.

Some have questioned how he could get so far without money or a plan.

Armstrong said he keeps $100 on his person at all times and was able to use that to buy food.

He also said he found a farmer who took him in and gave him food and lodging for several days in exchange for haying.

McDowell County (N.C.) Sheriff Deputy Jacob Crowder said Tuesday it seems “pretty legit” that Hugh Armstrong, 72, of Clayton, N.C. suffered some sort of memory loss.

He pulled alongside him in a cruiser at 1:30 a.m. Saturday, and helped reunite the family and solve the mystery by looking at the initials on Armstrong's wedding ring and checking missing persons data.

“When we asked him who he was, he said he was going by the name of Billy Nilly,” Crowder said of the stop he made with Lt. Steve Hensley.

Armstrong was wearing shorts, sneakers, a T-shirt and carrying two trash bags with clothing, a walking stick and a flashlight, Crowder said. He said Armstrong had some medications, but no vial.

Armstrong said he was carrying only aspirin for a headache.

The process for recovering search-and-rescue costs is determined by the attorney general if the parties involved are found to have acted negligently. The Fish and Game official in charge of the search must file a report recommending such a request.

Authorities are asking anyone with information, particularly those who may have picked up a hitchhiker on Interstates 89 or 91 on July 25 or 26, to call State Police at 846-3333.

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Paula Tracy may be reached at ptracy@unionleader.com.