search and rescue

The Bone Finders: How the Relentless Searching of Drone Imagery for Missing Hikers Made a Difference for One Family

The Bone Finders: How the Relentless Searching of Drone Imagery for Missing Hikers Made a Difference for One Family

"I was tired of looking at the same real estate over and over again,” he says, “with good but not great imagery." Too many times he believed he’d found a bone, or a backpack, or a tent belonging to O’Sullivan only to be deflated once ground searchers hiked in to his coordinates and discovered the bone was a stick, the backpack was a rock, and the tent was a tarp abandoned by illegal marijuana cultivators.

Dear Friends & Family, If I become a Missing Person . . . advice for thru-hikers and their families

Recent missing hiker stories compelled me to do some research on how I could better prepare my family and friends should I become MIA. This is what I’ve done to hopefully be found sooner than later. 

The Garmin InReach Why these devices are worth their weight in gold

By Aaron Wheeler, volunteer searcher for Kris Fowler

What is the Garmin InReach and why is it so worth the investment? The first two main reasons to carry a Garmin InReach is for Safety and Navigation.  Hiking comes with some inherent risk and safety should always be a top priority while on the trail, even on short day hikes. But thru-hikers must also make hard choices to keep the weight of their equipment and supplies to a bare minimum. So what is it about the InReach that makes worth its weight in gold? 

If the scientist Arpad Vass says he can find your missing loved one using fingernail clippings, don't believe him.

When our loved ones disappear, we'll try anything to find them. So when a famous forensic anthropologist claims he can locate your son or daughter using his or her mother's fingernail clippings, there seems to be little reason to doubt him.

Unfortunately Dr. Arpad Vass is selling nothing but false hope.