Since this isn't a National story anymore I'll provide an update.
Once the hermit's shack burnt down the judge that had locked him up decided that releasing him was fair. The fire chief believes that a worker hired to dismantle the shack inadvertently started the fire and siince there is virtually nothing left of the "building" to do a forensic arson investigation the matter has been dropped.
As for Dave, there have berticles in recent weeks whereby he stated that the life of a hermit is behind him and he would seek out the friendship, love and affection of other people that he hadd avoided for all those years camped out on the banks of the Merrimack river.
Now the story gets its fairy tale ending.
Tech billionaire Alex Karp gives $180k to ousted hermit River Dave
Tidbits from the link; "River Dave will be able to build a new home thanks to an unexpected benefactor: Palantir Technologies CEO and billionaire Alexander Karp, who gave former hermit David Lidstone a personal check for $180,000 last week. Jodie Gedeon, a kayaker friend of Lidstone, announced the donation on a Facebook group for Lidstone’s supporters. Gedeon said a lawyer representing Karp delivered the check on Aug. 11. The money will be used to build a new home for Lidstone, after the cabin he built along the Merrimack River burned down weeks ago amid a property dispute."
“How can I express myself and my gratitude towards something like that? I start to tear up whenever I think about it,” Lidstone said. “For an old logger who always had to work, for anyone to give you that type of money, it’s incredibly difficult for me to get my head around.”
"The money will go towards rebuilding elsewhere, Gedeon said. “Right now we set up a trust for Dave and it’s going to be utilized to build him a new home. We have this temporary house set-up for the winter but we’re not going to be able to build until spring,” Gedeon said. She said they are keeping the location of Lidstone’s winter digs private."
