Lilly and Jamie


Gee guys, I'd jump on this, but...

The woods are lovely, dark and deep,
But I have promises to keep,
And miles to go before I sleep,
And miles to go before I sleep.

And searches to do before I sleep,
And people to find before I sleep...

I have been quiet this week and behind in the mail..two searches two deaths..sometimes its hard. But my promise that the schips and I hold out to the families is closure...

Lilly

The night was COLD and dark, the teams assembled in front of the nursing home. 91, and missing. I took the small black dog to the room and pulled back the covers for him to "scent" the frail lady who had slept there.
LILLY I spoke quietly...we must find Lilly...Wooly nosed into the pillow and off to the closet where we rescented on her shoes and dirty clothes..

Off he slipped into the hall and down to the day room. He checked each room and closet and even the storage rooms outback. Soon he choose a door and gently scratched looking at me for an exit. I opened and he carefully went out upon the grass and started around the house.

As I approched the teams waiting, I stopped to give each their assignments and gave him a drink of water. Searching is thirsty work for man and beast. I gave him the search command and off he went..Dark, no street lights and the roads were not familiar..testing each part of the ground for the trace of scent. It had been 4 and a half days and a rain had fallen. Our chances were not great. Slowly he worked to the second interscetion. He circled and seemed to lose it..I removed the leash and told him to "cast"..slowly from the center of the road he worked and then choose the left turn..soon he moved faster..zig zagging along the road edge..looking straight at the ground. At the next corner he repeated the check and chose..only this time he ran part way and returned to rework the edges. Soon he turned left and started to work faster again. I had no way of knowing if he was truly on track..just had to wait it out.

I had sent the others to different sectors. Two to the fields and to the fish ponds. Two teams I had sent directly to the house to do an area search. Midnight and we hoped the residents didn't shoot first and ask second."What are these strangers doing in my back yard? I DON'T care if a policeman IS with them"...Care must be taken. I checked by radio with all units. Sharon and Ruth are in the fields. Larry and Marty are at the house.

Wooly turned into the field and checked each cut log that was close to the road..had she rested here? He moved on. At the next corner he turned right and cut across the lawn and on to the next street. Knox Street. She had lived here so many years ago...she was going home.

As we approached the Railroad tracks he swung hard to the right and checked a porch..I asked Who lives here? Two Elderly Ladys..maybe friends from the past?? They were the right age. We would check back tomorrow at morning light the police assured me..and then the Church. Gently he asked to enter. It was locked and at 1:30 am we moved on..first he ran off to the left..I waited as he was not tracking...he turned and circled back checking the air.. his nose dropped and off he moved straight down her street. Slowly we followed..he is still free remember and often I would loose sight of his small black body with the flasher attached.

He found my truck and passed it with out a glance. My fellow searcher had driven it to the neighborhood to do her area search..I knew I was in the right area now.
He took me to a vacant house with a large porch and a for rent in the door. He checked close and returned to me. Where I ask, he circles and whines..slowly he moves in and out of the yards...nothing.

I return him to the truck to rest and bring out Fox. He is an airscenting dog and I had hopes he would be able to pick up any trace of the scent.
We moved like dancing shadows in and out of the yards and soon he askes to go into an old house. I pick him up and he goes thru the debris and checks. He stops and checks a dead cat and moves on..out and down out of the old house he moves on to the next field. Nothing. I call him back as a radio reports comes in and "Ralph" a red Dobie has alerted in a wooded area.

I pack up my two and drive two blocks down and 1 block over. I turn Wooly loose and cast for a trail..he sweeps left and right..nothing. I go back and try Fox...he also sweeps and takes me thru a deep ditch of water..but leads me to a railroad tie "bridge" and we walk the beam to the tracks. I really hate railroad tracks..but it is my discomfort, not his. I had heard a train earlier and knew the line was active. He ran ahead searching..circling...he stops and looks back..I join him..he checks the surrounding ditches, but nothing...I walk back to the truck..we have lost the scent. But it is the same spot as Ralph had lost it too.

It had been 4 days. It was 24* that night and the night before 28*. I knew she was probably NOT alive, but we worked it as if she was. One by one the others called in. Nothing. We are sorry. It is 4 am and all the dogs are tired. We have narrowed it down to the area on the south side of the tracks. In a straight line it would take us back to the nursing home.


The police tell us they will search more in the morning and will start along the track and move south. It is late and we start home. I have three passenagers and the three dogs, two of mine and Marty's. Michelle was my "outrider" or "flanker". She watched my back and dog and kept me insight for safety. An important job. The drive back was rough and 2.5 hours long. Staying awake was a team effort. I get home and drop into bed..the clock reads 6:30...just to get warm and sleep will be heaven. I don't even unpack the truck. Good thing as the second search call came at 8:30 am.

This one is a drowning in the White River at the construction sight of the new dam.
But first I MUST sleep...we would leave at 1pm.

to be continued...

Pat and the sarschips Fox and Wooly(Magic is just watching this time.) Continued <Jamie Day One

I dragged from the bed with the ringing of the phone. I had gotten up twice, once when the bible came to the door and once more when a fellow searcher called to ask about the second search. I was so glad I could just load my life vests and dogs and leave. Cold..and after all the warm weather records, I had the luck to have searches in winter again!

I picked up my search partner, Sharon and Bubba. Like old times I laughted. No One else could go. It was to be just us two. Another 2 hour trip and who knew how long searching...our veins filled with excitement and challenge.

The White river is a dangerous river as it seems quiet and easy..but beneath its surface is a swift current and cluttered bottom. The river is full of Locks and Dams to let river traffic pass safely. It often floods, as had happened this week. The new construction sight was 10 miles down stream and the only way in, was by boat. A BIG boat with 20 people on their way to work. The dogs were very welcome and the crew spent the time petting and talking. We learned more about River Life than I ever knew exisited. Now I needed to go bring one back home.His friends where all there and they believed we could do that for them.

Once we got to the "office"..a barge converted into a floating home away from home, we loaded our crates onto the "deck" and found smaller boats to work out of. Going up and down the ladders were shades of the disaster agility we had just practiced the week before! Crossing the grates and "floating" bridges to land were just an everyday thing to our well trained dogs. I mentally thanked our Instructors for their tuff workouts.

Now we were loaded and I asked them NOT to tell us anything about the location! We needed to find the location and see if he was truly there.
His name was Jamie. We had no scent article with which to pre-scent, so we simply gave our search commands and set off to locate our Jamie. I learned he was wearing a LIFE VEST!! and still had not surfaced. There had been two men working on a "frame" work that is inserted into the water and then secured by cables,Steel plates are driven into the circle, then filled with rock and sand. They form a barrier across the water so they could then build the dam. They call them "cells" The second man had been quicker and had climbed to the top of the cell frame and as it flipped over and rolled, managed to swim clear.

We slowly floated with the current, riding the waves of passing barges and boats. I had a small alert as Wooly hung over the sides..but kept going down stream. As we reached the ends of the barges he picked up the scent and I turned and swung into the current and started working it back up stream. I could hear the deep bark of Bubba, Sharon's big red Dobie. Wooly's search partner. They had worked as a team for 5 years and had a perfect record of locating a drowned victim.

Each time Wooly would locate the floating scent and move to the side, I'ed signal my boat handler to follow him. Basically we were tracking on water. We moved up and slowly came back into the "cell" area. I turned and asked..are we in the accident zone. "yes" he sighed...and I saw his sorrow. I asked him to continue till we had NO scent and marked it in my mind and with the spotter, who's job it is to record my "lines of search". I waited now to watch Bubba..his deep bark ringing out as he crossed the same area.

We went back out for our second pass, this time closer to the left of the search area and Bubba and Sharon moved right and closer to us. The second pass was much as the first with the scent moving us back into the cell area, only this time he dove for the side and touched the water as we passed a upwell of water. I watched Bubba and as he moved pass, he barked direct at the water and turned to bite Sharons jacket and then at the ropes...we had found the heaviest scent area.

We pulled our dogs and headed in to change dogs. We had been out about an hour and the light was going fast. Soon the night would make our job harder and I noticed the winds were changeing directions.

We put our boys away and feed and watered them and loaded up our second set. Pete is a beautiful Show quality Vizsla. About 3yrs and a partner to my 4 yr old Fox. They had been a team since we had gotten our second "string". Sharon and I go way back as a team, and we had founded CASAR K-9's. Today we had gone back in time to the good old days of just the two of us!

We repeated the search. Only this time I have a different type of dog..Air Scenting, so he works and alerts differently. But no matter, he is clear on one thing, the scent is HERE and I want it ....he digs at me and at the boat. Again I pull away and he moves with the scent, I watch Pete as I get back to make a second pass, and as I sit, Fox goes into a frenzy and digs and soon bites at the ropes hanging on the sides! I have a BIG alert. I check the landmarking to record it and see he is about 50 to 75 feet from the original alert area. I work on up till he stops and then reward with cheers and hugs..GOOD DOG, GOOD DOG rings out over the water. I turn and see Pete hit the same area. Now I wonder, why is this one out so far? I notice the wind has really changed and it is blowning from UP stream. The other dogs had it from DOWN stream...I did not have an air scenter first, so I mark and double check the original area..we have mild interest, but they look off to "their" area. It is a swift current and so very close to the same spot. We return to the barge and report. I am asked to "draw" it for them and they bring me a drawing of the accident sight...I fill in the details and ask for a copy for my records.

Now the talk turns to the details of the accident and I listen and learn much of Dam construction. I also learn of the dangers. They talk of recovery and I realize just how dangerous the dive will be and we talk of other ways to recover. I must leave now, unfinished, never sure they'll call us back. We have narrowed the area and hopefully they will recover him soon. We do the Dark boat ride up river..15 minutes and very educational on navigation. We have help to load for our drive home. We are alone and have to figure out the road back!! It is dark and no one to lead...we must SEARCH!!! Just to go home..but it works fine as we both can recall very well.

We stop for gas and load up with food. It is 8:30 and we are TIRED. The dogs are sound asleep. Sharon drifts off, she has to work tomorrow. I talk on the cell phone. I come to an intersection and guess what...I am lost. I turn around and read the signs, dig out the map and take the road to the interstate...and head home. I had missed a turn miles back, but taken a more direct route to the interstate

As I Drive on, My hubby calls. They have found Lilly. She is dead. I am sad, but call the number of the Cheif of Police and get a report. They had searched the field we had left off at and she was about 1500 feet into the field. She had been hiding from searchers as the field had been searched on Thur, Fri and Sat and was NOT there. We had lost the scent there that night and our pain is deep as we think.."we missed"..but the sergeant assures me we DIDN'T miss and the dogs had done a great job. At least we had given them the area,.
And the people where we had alerted had seen an old lady and thought it must have been her.

So now we are tired and go back to weigh and talk about our decisions..what to do different and how to be better. What to practice and what our strong points are with each dog team.Its 10:30 as we pull into the drive.First to sleep and then to plan...for tomorrow is a new search waiting.

Pat and Wooly & Fox the sardogs

___________________________________________________________________

<<Jamie Day two>
At least it's warmer I think as I load the truck. And hopefully it will not rain before this day is out. I love search, but it's not healthy right now to play in the rain. This flu season has taken its toll. After the 24* all nighter I worry ...

Marty will go too, today. Rufus is a cock-a-poo and has just been to a seminar in North Carolina in Oct for water. Sharon and her Dobie and Vizsla await our pick up. (you all remember Marty with the PWD who need a swimming tank! He is running and returned to work this weekend!)

As we drive we discussed the search on Monday and wonder if the dogs will tell us the body is still there or if the water has moved him down stream. The skys cloud and we get sprinkles of rain..oh well, we will still search.

This time we can drive to the construction sight. 10 miles along the river with drop offs into the current and signs reminding the drivers of the dangers...we laugh and hope we are not the next group to walk among the fishes. The road opens into a large work area and we leave the dogs in the car and go for our breifing.

Day shift and a new crew on board. I meet with the "doubter" and we meet the diver for the first time. I can tell this is a "macho man" and we will have to work real hard to prove our case...

Wooly and the Dobie Bubba will go first as usual. We load into the flat boats and make our way down stream. We carry a laser receptor on board and on the south shore and on cell 20 we have survey equipmemt to "mark"
our alerts. Each time the dogs tell us HERE..we will yell MARK and the boat will stop and the reading will be taken and stored in a computer for later.

As we approach the search zone we see all the rigs and barges have been moved. I have NO reference points from last search on Monday. They are piling sand into cell 5!! The water is pouring out into the current and muddying the water around us! As the steamshovel picks up the sand, Wooly watches and refuses to work.. now we have a problem..work will have to halt to search the water around cell 5.I ask if we can halt the shovel..not a problem...the shovel driver smiles and waves and says "Thanks for the break"... Back to work Wooly, and he lowers his head and moves off.

Each dog works alone and we cross paths as we place our search buddys in a "hot" zone. I try not to listen or watch Bubba as I know I must make my marks carefully and on my own. Soon we have worked the outer scent zones and start inward..Wooly is hanging by his toe nails to touch the water..HE WHINES..MARK and we wait as he paces the deck and sniffs the air and water for clues. I move the dog and he looks over the side as the boat moves up the current. Nothing.

We swing out and let Bubba move in and I go back for another run...waiting, I see Bubba bite Sharon..they stop for a MARK not far from where I have just left..she swings away.

Again and again we move up the current and call our marks...then we stop to talk above the scent area. She suggests we get our second dogs. As we move away I think I might want a second run around the tanks. I check the "backflow" and where the water flows from the tanks.Nothing. We get a few small indications from the back flows along the shore..we move on knowing we have "cleared" the zone.

On shore we give the dogs a potty break and change the water life jackets to the second dogs. YES the dogs wear lifejackets! Dogs overboard can be a great danger when searching with high powered boats...the vest makes them visible.
Now Fox is ready to go and as we move out we see they are MOVING THE BARGES!! Oh no..right into the area we need to search. I watch in horror as they PARK this huge barge and tug in the search path. I smile sweetly and ask.."Sir, would you please ask the tug to move?" AHH the feeling of power to move these thousands of pounds of boats..I ask my boat driver to remove me from the search zone to await the clear water...

As I sit and wait I explain to Big Boss about moving the scent..the tug will churn and swril the waters to the point of spreading the scent across the currents. It will now make finding the pin point harder. Scent will be floating everywhere down stream. I warn of "wild" hits due to this condition(Boy am I glad I did).

We work and soon we are adding more marks.Fox goes crazy and bite my shirt and "talks" in that schip grumble.MARK. At that point, the voice on the radio reports we have placed a "mark" in the same area three times only 20 feet apart!
That's wonderful news..so I ask WHICH DOGS..he smiles and says..the little black one. Fox has just backed up Wooly's marks. I feel the rush of a good job.

I mark the "wilds" too..we will get information from them later.The voice at the end of the radio laughs at one..I ignor him. Soon we have covered the zones completely. I turn to watch Sharon and Marty askes if we can work Rufus next.

Back to change out the dogs and I take a seat beside Marty. Just relax I tell her or you'll blow the dog. I have a vistor on board. He is quiet and askes questions. I answer as I watch her work. I tell the boat driver where to place the dog...his tail goes and soon he dips into the water and barks..MARK. Only the markers are gone..I eyeball the location and see it is very close to mine. He is working. He make two passes and he is doing fine. We head for shore. Time is wasting. I want to see the diagram of the marks.

As I go into the barge office I see the "panel of judges" and I pick up my copy of the print out. They have placed the dots(MARKS) on the blue prints for me to read! I look and I whoop with suprise as the PERFECT SCENT CONE is laid before me! I love technology. The fact is, you can not lie. The computer is unbaised. It marks what you call. The diver points to the far outer marks and snickers.."do we have all these bodies out there?" No sir I smile sweetly, what you have is a scent cone. The current is carring the wild floats out with it..right in the current. I look to my survey man to back me..he smiles and explains how we had to move the barges to finish the search. I ask for a copy of the printout. I take the dogs and go eat lunch while the diver work out their search strategy. I always like to think we are all part of a problem solving team. It takes the boat handler, the dog team, the divers and the ground crew to "find" anyone. The diver leave us out of the loop.

I sit on the shore and watch them suit up and talk with a forman. He tell how the accident happened. They were placing a "template" into the water to drive the steel plates around to form a round "cell". They rhen fill the cell with sand and close the remaining opening to close off the water flow. When all the cells are finished they pump the water from the center and build the lock and dam. The dredges will deepen and clear the bottom.
The construction will start in 30 days.
What will become of Jamie??

The divers are UP..I walk back into the barge offices. HE"S NOT THERE.
I'VE LOOKED. IT'S CLEAR. In thirty minutes I ask..how can you cover ALL that zone in thirty minutes?? The room is quiet. I smile sweetly and say.."Thanks so very much for giving us the opportunity to serve and the wonderful fun of using your high tec equipment." I then shake hands and thank the boat handlers and spotter and wish all good day..OUTSIDE ..I look to the heavens and say thanks for no rain..clear waters..great dogs.. and safe return..and walk off to the cars to explain to my team WHY he's not there when we KNOW he IS...all in a days search. Our Motto..TRUST YOUR DOG..they never lie...

I took that survey plot to our weekend seminar...Our instructor who teaches all over the country woks with wonder on the drawings. I have overlayed the FIRST DAYS SEARCH and THE PLOTTED SEARCH....THEY MATCH PERFECTLY.
Hugs come and assurance of a job well done. Sympathy for the nonbelievers

Up Date 2002
In a search this year we had contact with the local Sheriff’s office where this search was carried out. It was confirmed that indeed the dogs did locate and pin point the body as Jamie was recovered from the location we had marked. It was many months later while they were dredging up the channel to complete the lock and dam, but the body was recovered in the marked and documented zone. The Sheriff HAD believed us and kept looking.

Gosh that made us feel so good!
Pat and the SARSchips
 

[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]