For Aaron

The last few months had been so very hard. I had quit SAR and was feeling a bit left out. The Unit I had helped to start, had been going through growing pains, and many of us had left to avoid the differences in how a SAR unit should work. All of the dogs were good. All of the people dedicated, just on different wave lengths.

I sat in the parking lot waiting for Ray to pick up some items we needed for dinner. The dark clouds often spit out some sleet and rain. What a way to start the new year. January was as dark and cold as my soul.

The phone rang and I answered with the old code..."Pat here, what's up?" And the voice said  "We have a search Pat. We need you and Wooly...will you come?" 

My world stood still. Thoughts flew...I had put it all behind me...if I went again, could I handle NOT doing it again? I was so quiet the voice asked me..."are you still there?"

"Yes, I'm thinking. Where is it...what are the conditions, and time frame? " I dropped into the old habit for the briefing. I pulled out my pen and paper to make notes.

A young Air Force guy had gone out with his friends for New Years and had fallen 57 feet off of a railroad bridge into the river and not come back. They needed search dogs with water experience. It was so cold and wintry, the water swift and dangerous. They needed us tomorrow at a town about 3 hours away.

I sat there...I needed to think. "I'll call you in a bit, I need space." And let my mind work on the problem. Did I want to go back?? Yes...but not with the old unit. Did I want to start a new one? Would it be worth all the management problems...no, I just wanted to search and help people. Train my dogs, do the best job I could.

As Ray came to the van, I explained my dilemma. He was very quiet. He had often seen my tears at trying to fix the problems with the SAR unit. "It's totally up to you. I'll help when I can" was his gentle answer. I knew he would support any choice I made.

I drove home with one thought. ..A family is hurting. I have a dog that can stop that pain. How can I say NO!!??

I reached for the phone. "Talk to me Sharon...what should we do? Can we start a NEW unit and make it better than before?? SAR dogs MUST survive and work in our state. It is too important to stop the dog service just because of a difference of opinion."

"Yes," came the soft spoken reply." Let's go for it. We'll do this search, and then all of us will talk."

" Ok...count me in. Where do we meet and what do we need?" So because of You dear Aaron, CASAR K-9s have become the very best we have to offer.

The next morning, we rolled into the search site early. We talked and briefed with all of the police. I approached the bridge where they had partied, and looked off to the south at the rolling River. The wind was raw and biting. The dogs would be cold in the boats. The temperature hovered at 30° to 32°. We decided to go a ways downstream and come back into the current.

To check the flow, we had dropped a weighted milk jug into the spot where he had last been seen, and watched it move with the water flow. It was surface, but it told us the top scent currents. We then went to load.

Andy and Dan rode together with Andy's dog, a shepherd. Just training, but with a feeling for water. We didn't know what she would do. Sharon with Bubba.  And Wooly and I would make the last pass.

Each boat went far down to the end of the bend of the river. All we needed was scent to tell us if he was indeed there. One by one the boats came into line. I took the one closest to shore, then Sharon, 50' out from me, with Andy another 50 feet out into the current.

I had a bark off to my right...Bubba. Wooly was acting strange...He wouldn't look at the water, but across the water at Sharon. I knew it had
been a little while since we had worked. Was he not understanding?? I asked my boat driver to slow, I checked and the other driver had a special face cover on!!  Wooly was too interested in the man with NO face! I chuckled, and asked them to drop back so we could start again!

And within minutes we had scent!  Wooly began to track slowly up the current. The water was swift and swirling. The little black dog would hang over the side to smell and follow. I was often amazed he could bend so far over without falling. Lifting, testing the air, back to the surface, All the time I heard the echo of Bubba telling us it was right here!! Find it Wooly!

Slowly, we grid searched...over and over, till a clear pattern emerged. But with a glitch. We had two areas of scent! One in the deep undercut of the banks along the river bend, and one up into the shallows of the bend. I marked the old tree sticking out of the water, and pointed out the location to Sharon. I asked her to double check me, and I'd do hers. I moved off in the upper location and we too got a "hit," but not like the one below us. Hmmmm...I suggested we return to the shore to rest and talk strategy as we had been out for about 2 hours. The dogs were getting cold.

The ride back was into the wind. I lifted my face to the cold cutting wind and sent thanks to the Lord for the opportunity to be back in service again. It was so cold to Wooly, he huddled closer for warmth, but my soul was on fire with determination. I would be a searcher again. We had much to offer the local families and law enforcement. We were the start of a new tomorrow for local SAR dogs.

As we hit the bank, our first thought was to get warm, tend the dogs, and plot the locations for the awaiting teams. I set the markers for the drag boats, and held a briefing with Andy, Dan and Sharon. None of us could figure the second scent. Had he lost an arm or leg? Did we have two bodies? All agreed it was a weak alert, not like the one near the up welling and tree. Could it be the undercurrent was carrying it along beneath the swirling waters?

We watched the drag boats work from the shore. The dogs rested in the back of the van, huddled deep in the warm sheepskins of their crates. All slept, knowing soon we'd have to go back in search of Aaron.

As the day warmed, we returned to the boats. As I walked Wooly out to refresh him before loading, he stood and sniffed at the back of one of the cars parked along the edge. I gave him praise for a good check it. I moved on...he pulled me back again...this time Bubba joined him. They sniffed and worked the trunk, then both moved on. Hmmmm.   I think about it, and asked a policeman about the car. "Oh that is the father's car, and we put all of his stuff back inside the trunk!" Ahh...Now we know the dogs had the scent and indeed were working it. We moved off to the boats. We re-scented, just in case they thought they had found in the car, and moved off.

The second time we had a different wind. It had shifted to the north, and it made the warm rising scent drift outward. The dogs worked better this time, but again, gave us the location as the Tree we had marked earlier. Not as much as we had hit on earlier, and no second location. The boat man reported they had pulled the jacket and shirt from the water in that area. So that explained our second hit!

The deep undercut was so dangerous for the boats. I didn't chance it. I studied the 40' to 50' cliff above us, the 50' to 100' trees that grew along its top edge. I could see that in flood times, the river would undercut the sand, the bank with its load of trees would fall into the moving river. The trees would pile up along the bottom as a type of strainer. Catching all that drifted by. Did it hold the young man as well?

My boat team needed a smoke...I told them to fix the sonar set to scan the bottom, and Wooly and I sat back for a break. The boat driver lit up his ciggy. Sharon and Bubba worked the outer corner, and further into the current to double check. Andy had opted to keep his dog on the shore.

We drifted. I never allow smoking while my dogs work, as it may mask traces of scent. But I give them a break. The sun warmed our faces, and we talked as he worked on the sonar unit...BOOM! Wooly is up and flying over the side!! I see he is hanging ten to touch the water!! I have grabbed the line and hung on to keep him from going overboard! I get a chance to look at where we are and I see the marker again. That's the place!! Smoke or no smoke, command or no command...Wooly is on target! It's time to go back to shore!

I swing over to tell Sharon. She too has had new hits at the marker. I can always trust Bubba, my big red Dobie partner. He and Wooly are a great team. I think they talk to each other mind to mind! <G> as they always seem to be in complete harmony. Our day is done. Time to go off home.

As we arrive at the shore, I see the divers. I am so worried about them. The undercurrent is strong and the tree piles are very dangerous. They are going out to check my mark. I cannot leave. I beg them to be very careful. I cannot help but worry we might lose another life. I sit on the banks and watch. Afraid for them. Binoculars pressed against my face...I see him walk off into the tree. He stands on the branches. Sometime I can see him, sometimes not ,as he goes below. Soon they are back into the boat, and headed in to shore. I breathe easier.

They report it is too swift to dive. Water is muddy dark and filled with tangled trees below all the way to the bottom. They will have to figure a a way to slow the water flow before they can safely check the location. And for us, it's time to leave.

Twenty-seven days go by without a word. One morning I hear the phone, and answer with a quick hello. I never expected to hear Clift's voice. He is the Ranger at The State Park where the young man went missing.

"We have recovered Aaron today. I wanted you to know he was right in the trees your team marked. I know that many of the searchers didn't believe you, but there is evidence that he has been there all the time. His body was covered with bottom dirt. He was not washed clean like they get from floating free and tumbling."

"The family wants us to send thanks. They had gone back day after day to your location to watch for him. Today he came back to them for closure. I am so thankful we had your team with us. Can you pass my thanks to all of the others?"

"Yes" I say and hang up. It is time to call a meeting anyway. Time to make a decision.  Time for a new beginning. And Central Arkansas Search And Rescue K-9s had its team. Many have come, many have left, still Sharon and I walk that road together.

Wooly and Bubba have added the next generation. Fox the Schip and Pete the Vizsla. And then Magic the Schip and Taylor the Dobie. Now Bo the pain. Oops...the Schip<G> And we have another who has kept the faith. Marty our Director of Operations. Her Rufus and her Porty, Dare. Both of whom are certified in cadaver...and live finds...and articles<G> as she learns each new discipline.

And Michelle of the Poodles. A go getter, and great scout. Working new babies, Phoenix and Raven along with her JoJo. And now Ray Allen with his little Border Collie, Hunter, and Ray's son Justin, who is working with his all American Ziggy. Now Justin is too young to search as part of our unit (must be at least age 18) but he is learning to do base camp.
Sometime Ruth and her shepherd Jasmine still come. But Jas is getting old and her hips have become painful.

And Ray, my hubby. He is my scout and partner with the Schips. EMT and base camp as needed. Boat handler, food getter, dog keeper. My balance for the future.

From this family loss, came our dedication and devotion to SAR. To you, young Aaron, we dedicate this memory. For you, and all the others, we strive to be the best.

[Stories Home]  [Burning Need]  [The Flood]  [Molly]  [Aaron]  [Just Another Day]  [Water Search]  [Mock Search]  [Murder Most Foul]  [Gone Fishing]  [Once Again]  [Cossatot River Search]  [Return to Life]  [Too Old for This]  [Lord Vincent]  [Up From The Depths]  [Citizenship]   [Search Schip]  [Marmaduke Search]  [Lilly and Jamie]  [White Water Killer]  [Blood, Sweat 'N Cheers]