Very well said.
As a lover of my community and surrounding communities, I KNOW without a doubt that had that search not been cancelled this weekend, probably at least 200 people would have shown up.
Schools were going to donate snow shoes if needed. Several people volunteered publicly to provide food and drinks. A local residential setting was going to donate the use of walkie-talkies. A fire department offered the use of their firehouse free of charge ~ kitchen facilities, tables/chairs, etc., which would have been perfect to come back to warm up before going back out again, as it's very close to one of the areas we were going to search. The person who organized the use of the firehouse is a community member. Older people who aren't able to enter wooded areas for health/mobility issues asked what they could do. And the above things were offered within just ONE day.
I would beg the family to reconsider their stance on a public search.
My sincere condolences.