JoCoSAR Blog

MI: Deputies search over 600 acre area for missing man

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ATCHEZ — Adams County Sheriff’s Office deputies and the Adams County Search and Rescue team covered more than 600 acres of the woods surrounding Kingston Road Thursday and Friday in search of a missing man.

The missing man, Shaun Thornhill of Mangham, La., is 41 years old, 5-feet-10-inches tall and weighs 180 pounds. He has a large tattoo of the sun with the number 798 inside it.

The number 798 represents Thornhill’s local pipe fitter’s union, his sister Christel Wyant said.

The search in Adams County began after a patrol officer found Thornhill’s truck parked on the side of Kingston Road. Thornhill’s last known sighting was Jan. 22 in St. Francisville.

Air Evac assisted in the search Friday morning by doing helicopter fly-overs of the area, but according to the ACSO the search was called off at 11:30 a.m. while deputies and the search and rescue team wait for creek water levels to drop before they can continue.

Wyant said Thornhill’s family doesn’t know why he was in Adams County, but she did know he had recently been looking for work on a tugboat. His truck was locked at the time it was found, and his clothes, wallet and a television were inside it. She said there did not appear to be any foul play at the truck.

IDs and some cards had been removed from the wallet, but other cards were left in, Wyant said.

Thornhill is a loner but a friendly person, his father Joe Thornhill said.

Anyone with information about Thornhill’s whereabouts should contact the ACSO at 601-442-2752. Wyant can also be contacted at 318-705-8611, and Joe Thornhill can be reached at 402-705-8611.

 

Search resumes Sunday for Vinesa Snegur's body along Clackamas River

A sad recovery mission.

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Vinesa Snegur

The search for the body of a 6-year-old girl who fell into the Clackamas River will resume Sunday morning as dangerous river flows recede to safe water levels. 

Vinesa Snegur went missing last Sunday when she was swept into swift waters about 30 miles east of Estacada. She was playing in the snow with her family when she fell into the water, authorities said. 

Clackamas County Sheriff’s Office search and rescue teams searched three days for Vinesa’s body but called off the effort Tuesday when the flood-swollen river became too dangerous. 

Officials expect the water depth and flow to drop to a safe level by Sunday morning, allowing divers and water rescue teams to resume the search. 

TN: SNOW SEARCH AND RESCUE VOLUNTEERS

 

 

NV: Volunteers needed to search for missing hiker

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LAS VEGAS—46-year-old hiker Ronald Kirk hasn't been seen since Jan. 16. That's the day he hit the trails in Calico Basin at the Red Rock Canyon National Conservation Area.

Kirk's family filed a missing person's report on Sunday and a large search and rescue effort was launched earlier this week. Kirk's Jeep was found in a parking lot, but there is still no other sign of him.

Now, a massive search effort is scheduled for Saturday, beginning at 8 a.m. Kirk's family is asking for volunteers to help with the effort. Anyone from a novice hiker to an experienced one is asked to come out to Calico Basin.

Food and water will be provided, but you are asked to bring your own gear and dress accordingly.

The search group has set up a Facebook page for more information. It is:http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1421145508&ref=ts.

 

Baker County: Chris Galiszewski Named [Oregon] State Search and Rescue Coordinator of the Year

Congratulations to Chris—and thank you for all you do.

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Chris Galiszewski has been named Search and Rescue Coordinator of the Year by the Oregon Sheriff’s Association.  He was nominated by Baker County Sheriff Mitch Southwick and Wayne Inman of the Baker County Search and Rescue Board of Directors.  Their nomination letter said of Galiscewski, “He provides leadership to the unit and also considerable expertise in a number of technical areas including computer and communication technology, cell phone tracking, search management and the Incident Command System.”  (Continue reading to see the nomination letter.)

 

Nomination letter

Lt. Pat Rowland
Chairman, OSSA SAR Advisory Council
Jackson County Sheriff’s Office
White City, OR 97503

 The purpose of this letter is to nominate Chris Galiszewski for Search and Rescue Coordinator of the year.  This Nomination is being made by the Baker County Sheriff’s Office Search and Rescue Board.

Chris Galiszewski has been the Baker County Search and Rescue Coordinator for nearly three years.  He provides leadership to the unit and also considerable expertise in a number of technical areas including computer and communication technology, cell phone tracking, search management and the Incident Command System. Not only is he an innovator in Baker County, but he is closely associated with SAR members and organizations in adjacent counties in Oregon and Idaho. He is an active member of the Eastern Oregon SAR and provides them with leadership, innovation and support. This partnership relationship with members not only in SAR but in the other emergency services organizations has provided much needed coordination and mutual assistance. Chris is so involved in SAR that very little gets past him in Eastern Oregon and across the state.  One of the reasons Chris is successful is his ability to network with his colleagues not only in SAR but in the fire service and medical community.  Almost any problem can be resolved with a phone call to someone Chris knows from his various disciplines.

Chris has become a successful grant writer which has helped the Baker County Sheriff’s SAR team acquire equipment and training.  He knows there is money out there; all he has to do is find the source and write a convincing justification which is no easy task.

Every successful SAR unit has a person or person around which the operation of the SAR unit revolves. He is the one member who seems to make things happen for SAR in this county.  Of course, he has a dedicated and skilled volunteer team with which he works on a daily basis, but he is the one who provides the leadership and coordination to make it all happen. Baker County doesn’t have the highest number of SAR missions, but I have confidence in his ability to coordinate the effort of the volunteers, the Sheriff’s Office staff and mutual aid units in a successful resolution no matter the scope and complexity of the mission.

Chris is a volunteer, so his considerable SAR time and effort are not compensated. He is an office manager for a business in Baker City and has his own communications business.  He is also a Baker City volunteer firefighter and EMT.  And his most important job is that of husband and father to 3 daughters.  I am pleased to nominate Chris for this award. I will be happy to answer any questions or provide any additional information.

Thank You

Mitch Southwick, Baker County Sheriff

Wayne Inman, Baker County Sheriff’s Office SAR Board Member

 

FL: Authorities Search For Missing Teen With Autism

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The Sheriff’s Office along with Escambia Search and Rescue are looking for a teenager who has autism that went missing yesterday morning. Deputies were called out to the 700 block of Mohegan Circle yesterday when 16-year-old Calvin James Burkhart failed to return home from school.

Burkhart’s parents received a call from the school yesterday advising them that Burkhart was absent from school.  Sheriff’s Investigators, Sheriff’s Air Unit, Escambia Search and Rescue, and Brad Dennis from Klaas Kids are all searching for Burkhart. Sheriff’s Investigators have contacted A Child Is Missing Program which calls every home in a five mile radius to notify them to be on the lookout for Burkhart.

Investigators have also issued fliers and are passing them out as they comb the area for Burkhart. Burkhart was last seen on January 26, 2012 at approximately 9:30 a.m. in the Indian Lake Subdivision off of Hwy. 297A. Burkhart was wearing gray basketball shorts, tan hoodie, black Fila shoes, glasses and carrying a blue backpack.

 

 

That was then, this is now: Gorgeous earth photos from space 2012 and 1972

Photo: Jan. 4 by the VIIRS instrument aboard the Suomi NPP satellite.

1972

WA: Search for man with Alzheimer's is called offBy LESLIE BROWN

By LESLIE BROWN

A daylong search for an 84-year-old man with Alzheimer's disease who walked out of his home late Wednesday afternoon clad only in pajamas and sneakers was called off Thursday evening as darkness fell.

Authorities report they've found no sign of the man. Search and rescue teams likely won't resume their effort on Friday, according to Assistant Fire Chief George Brown, "because they've covered every part of the area" where he disappeared.

"They don't know where else they could possibly go look," Brown said.

Jack Randles, who lives with his son Jory Randles, disappeared from his home near Portage late Wednesday afternoon or evening.

Initially, authorities reported that Jack Randles was seen around 4:30 p.m. walking past Engels Repair & Towing and that a mechanic at the shop called Jory, leaving him a message that the son didn't get until Thursday morning. But Brown said those circumstances around his disappearance where misstated.

It turns out, Brown said, that Jory got the call from Engels and, with the mechanic's help, found his father walking along Tramp Harbor and brought him home. Jack apparently left again later Wednesday evening, unbeknownst to Jory, who discovered him missing in the morning. Authorities have one eyewitness report from 9:30 p.m. Wednesday that he was walking south on Dockton Road clad in red pajamas.

Thursday's search for the elderly man was extensive, according to authorities. The first search and rescue teams showed up on the Island at 9:30 a.m. By mid-day, about 20 emergency responders, four off-road vehicles and five search dog teams were combing the area near his home and beyond.

A helicopter equipped with heat-seeking cameras that can detect body temperatures was also part of the search. Members of Vashon's Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) also joined the effort, Brown said.

Dep. Troy Chaffee with King County Search and Rescue said that crews expanded their search area south after thoroughly combing the neighborhoods north of Randles' home, a direction he often heads when he walks with his son.

Searchers found no sign of Randles, but one search dog picked up on the elderly man's scent Thursday afternoon and followed it east on Maury. Chaffee said there is no way to know how long ago Randles may have walked there.

"It's definitely his scent. What we don't know is how fresh it is," Chaffee said Thursday afternoon.

Brown said searchers fear the man could have fallen and died overnight. But it's also possible he's holed up somewhere or even that he somehow got onto a ferry and "is sitting somewhere on the mainland."

"We hope it's not the worst. We're holding out hope," Brown said.

His son, reached Thursday morning, said he's feeling frantic about his father's status. His father has wandered off before, he said, but never overnight.

"I'm pretty freaked out," Jory said.

 

CA: Teenagers Rescued on Mountain Ridge

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Members of the Santa Barbara County Search and Rescue team, with the assistance of a Santa Barbara County Fire helicopter, have rescued two teenagers who were stuck in the dark on a mountain ridge above the Alisal Guest Ranch.

Members of the SAR, an all volunteer unit of the Santa Barbara County Sheriff's Office, were paged out on Wednesday, January 25th around 6:45 pm to help locate and rescue the two unidentified boys.

At about 3:00pm, the two local teenagers decided to go on a hike in the mountains above the guest ranch near Solvang. The two were, trying to reach an outcropping of rocks and potential caves that they could see from Alisal Road. After hiking several hours in very thick brush, the pair realized it was too dark for them to proceed any further given that they did not have any lights or a good idea of where they were, and by what direction to return to their cars.

Using a cell phone, one of the teenagers called his father and described the predicament they were in. Realizing he could not provide any help the father contacted the Santa Barbara Sheriff's Emergency Dispatch Center to request Search and Rescue for assistance in locating and rescuing the teenagers.

With the assistance of dispatchers obtaining GPS coordinates and triangulating their position, SAR members were able to narrow down the area where the two teens were stranded. SAR members also were able to communicate via cell phones with the teens to have them relate whether they could hear sirens from the SAR vehicles; this helped determine in which ravine the missing boys might be.

Based on these clues, SAR deployed a four-person field team to access the teens. Santa Barbara County Fire also assisted in providing a helicopter to fly over the area to confirm the teens' location and help direct the ground SAR team to the missing boys.

After traveling uphill through dense brush and Manzanita trees for nearly 90 minutes, often on hands and knees, SAR personnel reached the teens. SAR EMTs found the two boys a little cold, but otherwise in good health. After providing them with jackets, helmets, lights and gloves, SAR personnel led the pair down the mountain, occasionally using ropes to belay them in steep sections.

As the first SAR team was reaching the subjects, additional SAR personnel were deployed into the field to enlarge the initial trail created to the reach the subjects, so the return trip would be quicker and safer. SAR personnel hiked the teens out to waiting SAR vehicles at approximately midnight for rides down the ranch roads and back to their parents.

Santa Barbara County SAR reminds all hikers to tell someone where they are going and to bring emergency items such as lights, whenever they venture out into the wilderness. For more hiking safety tips and information about SBCSAR go to www.sbcsar.org.

 

Tillamook County: Rope rescue team saves author’s dog from cliff

By Samantha Swindler 

NESKOWIN - Eight volunteers led a dramatic cliff-side rescue on Jan. 14 that saved a Portland-area author's dog.

"It's a small thing, I'm sure, in the search and rescue world, but for our family, it was enormous," said the dog's owner, Brian Doyle.

Ringo, Doyle's Ibizan hound, was clinging to the side of the steep, muddy cliff when he was spotted by beach goers below.

"They said they heard a dog kind of yelping plaintively, which is very unusual for him, he must have really been frightened," Doyle said.

Doyle's daughter had brought the dog with her during a stay at the family's Neskowin home. Ringo had, apparently, wandered behind the neighborhood of houses on South Beach Road overlooking a 200-foot cliff and, unbeknownst to his owner, fell over the edge. He was last seen Friday morning. 

At around 9:30 a.m. Saturday, Jan. 14, Deputy Dean Burdick, a member of the Sheriff's Office Search & Rescue Team, responded to a call from a concerned beach goer. He found the dog precariously stranded about 30 feet below the ledge.

At the bottom of the cliff were huge, jagged boulders meant to slow erosion.

Burdick quickly called Bay City Fire Chief Darrell Griffith, who had access to rope rescue equipment. Griffith suggested Burdick also contact Netarts Fire Chief Tim Carpenter, whose department had a dog rescue harness. 

Meanwhile, Ginger Slavens and her son, Tucker Slavens, both volunteer members of Nestucca Rural Fire Protection District and the Search & Rescue Team, arrived and began to assemble their own rope rappelling equipment. 

"I can't say enough about the fire departments that we have in our county, because they know how to work together," Burdick said. 

When the firefighters arrived from Netarts and Bay City, Tucker Slavens descended the cliff with the dog harness in hand. Slavens was able to reach Ringo, attach the harness, and safely guide him past the dangerous rip-rap below.

Throughout the ordeal, about 60 people had gathered at the beach to watch the rescue. When Ringo landed safely on shore, Burdick said the crowd erupted into applause.  

It still wasn't clear to whom Ringo belonged, but Burdick recognized a "Project POOCH" ID tag around the dog's neck.

Ringo's first rescue actually came years ago  - he was adopted by the Doyle family from the MacLaren Youth Correctional Facility, which rehabilitates animals for adoption.

"Project POOCH is a program that takes in dogs that have been abandoned or mistreated, and the juvenile clients at the correction facility raise them, take care of them and find people to adopt them," Burdick said.

 Burdick had worked for the Oregon Youth Corrections Authority and was familiar with the program. He called MacLaren and was able to identify the owner. 

Described as a quiet, friendly dog, Ringo was unharmed in his ordeal but quite frightened. Doyle said the dog returned home to Lake Oswego and "just kind of crawled up on the couch and slept for a couple of days."

Doyle was shocked that the effort to rescue his dog, which involved four agencies and took three hours, didn't cost him a thing.

"I called to say, ‘do I owe you money? Is there a charge?' And (Dean) goes, ‘oh no, this is an all volunteer thing, we're happy to help, and our payment came when four feet were on the sand.' I'll never forget that phrase," Doyle said.

Doyle, the editor of Portland Magazine and author of the novel "Mink River," made a donation to the Search & Rescue team and offered to come to Tillamook County for a reading to benefit the group. 

"I think these people are quietly heroic, they do unbelievable work to keep a community bound together," Doyle said. "They did that all out of the goodness of their hearts... How easy it would have been for him (Ringo) to get washed away, but he wasn't because people bound together, put a lot of creative effort into it, and saved his life. It's a gift to the community to have people like that on that team."