Leisa Hurst Search #3

Today another group search was conducted for missing Leisa Ann Hurst.
The meeting point was in the Silverlakes community in Helendale. Pictured here is the group of volunteers at the morning briefing. There is a manmade lake in the background.
I was grateful another large turnout of people showed up. There were ATVs and footsearchers. By early afternoon it got hot in the desert and the sun beat down strongly.
I talked with volunteers from the US Forest Service Off-Highway Vehicle (OHV) group, and learned they have green cloth 'skins' on their helmets with the yellow forest service logo, so that helicopters in the air can recognize friendlys instead of illegal riders on trails.

"48 Hours" crew came to film

I was suprised to hear a film crew from the TV documentary show "48 Hours" would be at the search to get footage for a story. Cameramen got shots of organizing the command post, the morning briefing, the launch of the UAV drone, interviews with the family, and a grid search in the field.
The producer, Judy, said she probably would never know exactly when it would be aired, but probably sometime in the fall.

Silver Lakes CP Comms

I helped setup and run communications for this third group ground search for Leisa Hurst.
My friend Brian Turner helped me out setup and run comms in the morning. Brian recently passed his Technician Class exam and is waiting for his license in the mail.
Many thanks also to my friend Scott Byington from my OCRACES group who loaned me a great performing antenna, mast poles, and coax line.

The Faithful Leaders

Pictured here is Mike Lopez, left, with Emergency Ministry Services, who often runs Operations for the searches, and Mike Melson, right, founder of Trinity Search and Recovery, who organizes, manages and runs searches for missing people with his wife Bridget.
Through these searches we're becoming good friends.

How does he fit it all?!

Yes, I know I need a better vehicle for these deployments.
This trip the Camry took a beating! On the way out to setup the antenna, I almost got bogged down in sand going up a hill, and did a ralley jump over a burm to get back on the main graded dirt road! My friend said when I went over my back end caught air.

Later in the field I DID get stuck and needed a pull-out from a bigger truck. Back at the command post when I sheepishly radioed in that I got stuck, everybody cracked up!

Aw, after that, the sides of my car are all scratched up now from the sticky brush.

On-Scene Communications gets branded

Now that I have a new company logo, I feel like my business is picking up momentum.  There is still lots of administrative work to do.  I ordered nameplates to wear when I go out on jobs, and I have a couple of gigs lined up for later this year.

Vision Quest Mountain Bike Race - Communications Support

Here, showing off my new high-visibility reflectorized ‘communications’ vest, I helped a couple comm guys set up the OCRACES communications van at O’Neil Regional Park for a 52-mile mountain bike race for the Warrior’s Society, a local mountain-bike club.