When I first came to McCleary and talked with MB and KK, I let them know who I was and what I had been trained to do. Now, I am not an expert but when one has a missing child family member, you learn real fast on the do's and dont's of searching.
MB does not go out on searches. I am sure you can understand that if she was out searching and God forbid she was to find her daughter not alive, this would not only be the worst thing a parent could run across, but what parent would want that image of their child in their mind forever? It is hard enough for a parent of a missing child to constantly have the horrible images that they picture their child going through on a daily basis. When I was down in CA for 4 months looking for my niece, all I could think about was what would I do if I found her. So I am sure everyone can understand why it is not good for MB to be out searching.
'That being said when we (LRC- Klass Kids) first got to McCleary and set up a weekend of searching, we start right away teaching people the do's and dont's of searching. We tell people that we need volunteers in the office who would be called a Core Group. Once people come in to search and they start talking about why they are there and what they think they can do best, we start our training of the Core Group while others are training the volunteer searchers.
The first couple of days of searching the searchers are trained mostly by Brad (Klass Kids) and LRC. The core team that is put together is not always the ones that continue through months of searching, but they are trained well enough to train the next person that steps up and wants to learn and be trained in all areas.
The areas that the Core Team is trained is the following:
THE CORE TEAM
1. We have a top person who is the Director and this person is trained in all areas of running a search center. Either this person has been there and done that or is trained by top people on how to run the center.
2. Then we have several different places that we put people. Anywhere from Registration to Briefing and Debriefing.
3. Each trained core member knows most of the areas of the center and how to do the job they are asked to do.
4. SEARCH VOLUNTEERS
5. Before any volunteer goes out to search they are trained by members of the core team on what to do and what not to do. Example of this would be (never pick anything up or bring anything back to the center.) They are allowed to use sticks and gloved hands if they are trying to open say a refrigerator door, or pull something up that has been buried by leaves dirt ect. Or if a bag has a smell they can use a stick or gloved hand to tear it open and look but that is it. They are not allowed to move it or disturb it other than looking to see what it is. If they are positive they found something of importance such as (a shoe, Childs clothing ect.) they are to call the center right away and talk to the Director. Each team is given a bag of stuff before they leave the center to go on their search such as ( marking tape, index cards pen ect.) Each team has a team leader who makes the call, and keeps the team together. They then flag the area with marking tape, write on the index card what they found and number it.
6. When the Director gets there he or she will check the area and if need be contact LE. The Director is someone who knows if LE should be called right away or not. Most Core members at this point would know to call LE right away or tag it and document it.
7. The volunteers are told to look for child clothing, shoes, child *advertiser censored* of any kind. ect. We do not tell them everything because we do not want them to make a decision on whether they should call LE or not. If a Childs pants or shoes are found we want to look at it. The reason for this is because many things are found out in the woods. LE would not be able to do their job looking for Lindsey if every volunteer called them to come and look at a pair of pants or a shirt. That is why we want them to call the center and let the Director make that decision.
8. If they were to find Lindsey they are instructed to call 911 first and then to call the center to get the Director out there.
9. WHO IS ALLOWED TO SEARCH
And the answer to the question of who is allowed to search!
We try to discourage extended family members for the most part but we cannot stop them from searching either. We are not in a position to tell a family member they cannot search for their loved ones. And that is most likely the same for any family who has a missing one anywhere in the country, not just at the Lindsey Baum Search Center. It's absurd to think that a family member won't try and go searching, whether on their own or with a group. That is their right.
LE gets a copy of every search we do, along with Briefing and Debriefing paperwork. They have all of the team members and copies of ID's. They are aware who is searching and where we have searched, what was found and what was tagged. They may choose to follow up, or not. It's up to LE.
I hope this answers most of your questions? And please feel free to ask more questions if you wish. I want to make sure everyone here is aware of how the searches get started and how people are trained.
On a Mission
Director of the Lindsey Baum Search Center
raying:
