Dan Groebner

The first call-out came at 1:41 pm on November 24. The third call-out was sent at 6:16 pm on December 5, just 12 days later. Three calls for missing elderly folks that required organized search missions in less than 2 weeks kept the Navajo County Sheriff’s Office and Show Low Police Department busy during this buildup to the holiday season. Down in the Valley, they may get this many calls in a single day, but at this time of the year in the White Mountains, exposure and hypothermia can be more dangerous than heat exhaustion.

It’s that time of year when we can have a lot of visitors to the White Mountains. Some of these folks are unfamiliar with the area and not always dressed for the conditions. Fortunately for local authorities, there are available dedicated and trained volunteers willing to drop everything at a moment’s notice and try to help their neighbors. The Navajo County Search and Rescue posse, as well as the White Mountain Sheriff’s posse and the Hashknife posse, all had members respond to one or all of these recent searches.

In Arizona, the local Sheriff’s office has the responsibility and ultimate authority to conduct searches, and often even coordinates with Tribal officials to assist on sovereign Tribal Lands. Each county has a Search and Rescue (SAR) coordinator within the Sheriff’s office responsible for coordinating search missions using deputies and other agencies, as well as volunteers. These officers all coordinate within a state-wide organization.

Unfortunately, many searches are unsuccessful in finding a live subject. Friends and family might be hesitant to involve official searches for fear of being charged or taking up valuable resources. County-organized searches never come with a bill for the lost folks, as much of the effort can be accomplished with volunteers. Mutual aid agreements with other agencies, such as the Department of Public Service, can relieve the pressure on local resources and make available some advanced technology that the County simply could not afford in its budget.

Thanks to a quick request for help in locating some lost elderly people lately, 2 of 3 lost folks were quickly located and brought home. Authorities are still looking for ? “Stoney” ?? from Chevelon Retreat. See ?? for more information.

So how were these individuals located so quickly? Family and friends initiated searches but quickly realized that they needed help so they called 911. On the latest mission, the Show Low Police Department conducted a “hasty” type search looking in all the obvious places and asking local businesses to announce a Silver Alert and page the missing people over their intercoms. Navajo County Search Coordinator Deputy Vince Palazzolo interviewed the missing person’s family and made the decision to call in the volunteer search posses. 

About half of the calls that the Sheriff’s office receives are resolved through old-fashioned detective work, sometimes including a third or fourth search of a house, where the person is eventually found. Other times the deputies determine the person isn’t really missing or doesn’t want to be found and is in no danger.

After a thorough interview with the immediate family, including a description of the boots the subject was wearing, Deputy Palazzolo located the exact boot model at a local store, photographed the tread, and sent it to the search crews on the ground.

“Ground pounders” searching roads and trails along with K-9 teams were able to locate the same tracks in an area where a wandering elderly individual was reported by a local resident. The trackers focused their efforts in an area where the tracks reversed direction several times and wandered off into the woods. Ground surveyors calling out the missing person’s name eventually heard a response from them and were able to quickly extract the individual to Summitt Hospital.

In another recent search mission, the individual wandered away from a relative’s house in the middle of the night and fortunately found a warm home nearby to let themselves into, where they evidently spent most of the day until the homeowner returned after work to discover them. Search crews were canvassing the neighborhood knocking on doors, so residents were aware a person was missing and who to call if the subject was seen.

Search missions can involve many different strategies, depending on the situation. The Navajo County Search and Rescue Posse trains monthly, integrating certified K-9 teams who can find both live and deceased subjects. A drone team utilizes thermal and high-resolution cameras, when conditions allow, and all team members use 2-way radios and GPS to regularly report their position and any clues found.

The ground-pounding track teams are usually assigned to a specific search sector or segment, and often just engage in “purposeful wandering”, looking for clues such as cigarette butts, candy wrappers, and especially footprints. Former Border Control agents as well as other talented trackers have trained local searchers at the statewide SAR training convention held near Heber every 2 years. 

Depending on the nature of the search, crews may have to be deployed immediately, in the dark or rain, especially with vulnerable individuals like the very young or old. Therefore, training must occur under these conditions also. Locating and following footprints on the ground through our ponderosa needle-carpeted forest is a skill constantly refined in the monthly training sessions. Tracking at night can actually be easier than during the day if your flashlight is held low to the ground so the beam shines across the tracks, highlighting details, instead of just into the tracks which washes out all the track details.

But trained searchers are not very effective if they are never called out, so the most common denominator of successful searches is a quick and timely call out of search crews. SAR personnel would much rather be notified early of a possible search and then have it called off, rather than waiting until it gets dark and late before 911 is called for help.

Another common factor in successful searches is public involvement with reporting possible sightings of the missing individuals. Navajo County’s Silver Alert broadcast to area cell phones made people aware of the missing folks but the residents who actually took the time to report the wandering elderly people had a part in saving their life possibly.

Too many times, family and friends delay their request for help because they think they can find the missing person themselves, sometimes even making a search more difficult in the dark looking for tracks that have already been trampled on and destroyed by family searchers. Inaccurate or incomplete information about the missing person, including places that they frequent, and not having a current photo can also hamper efforts for a quick resolution.

The excitement and chaos of everyday life, much less the holiday season, can create challenges in keeping track of some elderly folks who are living with dementia and Alzheimer’s disease, which can cause disorientation and wandering in people. Fortunately, modern technology today can help avoid the tragic consequences by keeping track of the important people in our lives with a simple wristwatch device using cellular networks to keep track of loved ones. Prices range from less than $100 to under $300 for units with more features. Cell phone apps are also available, such as Life360 or Bark, among many others.

For those of us with serious orientation issues still pending, we can increase the chances of being found if we get turned around in the woods and the rest of the world isn’t where we think it should be. Being prepared for a worst-case weather scenario can buy you lots of time for SAR crews to find you, which means carrying extra clothes, rain gear, a fire starter, extra water or a filter, a signaling device, and a basic first aid kit.

If you want to hike and recreate in the White Mountains with the least amount of stress and anxiety, make sure you tell someone where you are going and when you will return. That way you will have peace of mind that even if something bad happens, it won’t take long for help to arrive.

The most important thing you can do if you think someone is missing is to call 911 and let trained professionals help you figure it out. Don’t worry about asking people to help you in your time of need. The volunteers who respond to search requests are paid back many times over by the appreciative words and thoughts often expressed by family members of the lost.

For more information on the Navajo County Search and Rescue, Inc. posse see: https://www.navajocountysar.org/ or on Facebook at NCSAR.