Similar to last year, I hosted a group of friends to come out and help me with searching for Karen and Rodney. Since we are searching in a new area this year, one of my friends connected me with Cathy and her dog Trooper, an archaeological cadaver dog.
I had 7 friends show up on a very rainy and cool Saturday. The general plan was for the 3 with low angle experience to form a ropes team that will descend the slope below where Rodney’s clothes were found. Their task was to search that hillside for remains. The other 4 formed a ground search team, who would be called up if Trooper alerted or showed interest in an area.
We started the day with a case, tasking and safety brief at the campground, followed by a short convoy to Soda Fork Rd. We parked at Landing 2, and the teams stayed in their vehicles while I followed Cathy and Trooper into the search area, with pin flags.
We started running Trooper in an area of interest farthest from landing 3, and then worked him closer to the landing. In an area where the tree line had been in 1977, Trooper went nose to the ground, walking in circles and whining at his handler. Pin flags went down into the ground, creating a 50’x50’ box. I radioed the ground team that it was time to leave the dry of their vehicles and start clearing the area.
While the ground team got into position, the ropes team was already rigged up and had descended the east side of the road towards the creek.
Once I guided the ground team into position, we began a hands and knees grid search of the area that Trooper showed interest in. We were able to make two passes within 2 hours and they completely cleared the ground of all duff and debris.
Having this many people help, all with ground search experience, finished the grid search in about 2 hours, while solo this would have been a full day. I cannot express my gratitude to my friends enough for the help.
While the ground team took a breather, I checked in with the rope team, who were also on a break. They had dropped down the slope to the bench above the creek, and were clearing benches, debris traps and drainage chutes as they ascended to the road. After completing an ascent, they repositioned the rope, and repeated the descent and searching ascent.
After a brief rest, the ground team went back up the hill, and started working down slope of the area Trooper found for us. Another 50’x50’ search area was marked, and we worked clearing it until we overlapped with the previous search. The team did another very thorough search. I would rate the probability of detection at close to 80-90% in the area we searched.
While the ground team cleared the next search box, the ropes team finished their day working the slope between the road and the creek. Based on the photos they sent, I have to believe they are some of the first searchers to really get into that terrain.
In conclusion, I want to thank Cathy, Chancy, Brie, Sky, Julia, Rachel, Alan and Levi for showing up on a very wet Saturday and putting a full day in at the site. I really want to thank the best boy Trooper, who worked so hard getting us to a starting point. It was the equivalent of 7 successive solo searches by me, and I can’t express my thanks enough. These people and Trooper represent the best of us.
The Search for Karen Jean Lee and Rodney L. Grissom 