Unorganized Searching

[Laece]

GrannyL was trying to make a point that not all is as it seems. Some things need to remain confidential out of respect for the person associated with the post. Please don't make a mountain out of a molehill on this.

just telling the truth and agreeing with someone else, no mountains to be made. unless you want to make a mountain out my agreement molehill with another poster. :crazy:

 

[FloridaKatz]

Look, you obviously did not know exactly what you were doing and that is OK. I realize some people here are being hard on you but take this as a learning experience. If you want to be a searcher, learn what it means and take the necessary steps. Does your area have a search and rescue team (like with the sheriffs department?) that you can join? There's not much written material out there but if you email me, I can email you a copy of a search guide booklet that is full of usefull info. And your Army of 6 comment is no joke, that would actually be the best thing you could do for yourself! (although I did get a chuckle from the comment). As far as the POV goes, you most definitely do NOT have to be slave to what they want. It they refuse to break and you need one, you take your search buddy and you take one, even returning to Command if you have to.

I guess you would have had to be there to understand. I've done SAR before (2004 during all the hurricanes we had), so I was not oblivious to what was going on. I've supported the Army for 20 years, and my husband's efforts in the Mid. East. I appreciate your recommendations, but in my current civilian employment role in security, investigations and project management, I think I'm pretty well educated on how things work. The whole point of my starting this thread, was to vent on how disorganized the search was due to the number of volunteers. If you are going to advertise for a search of this magnitude, you need to be prepared as an "organizer".

 

[GRANNYL]

Bolded by me.

I don't want to be snarky, but I think some people are going to find that statement out of line. Almost like your holding information over everyone else. It's fine if you know something, but you shouldn't put it out there where some people may feel hurt by not knowing certain things.

As always, JMO, but I thought I'd throw that out there.

That was not my intent at all. All I was trying to say things aren't always what they seem. We never know the entire story. I would never hold info over someone not my nature, just want people to stop and think before spectulating of the cuff.

I think everyone from TES, searchers, donors, prayer etc. deserve a big pat on the back. Everyone of us filled a needed spot let just stop complaining and move on and learn and be prepared the next time.:blowkiss:

 

[Laece]

I think everyone from TES, searchers, donors, prayer etc. deserve a big pat on the back. Everyone of us filled a needed spot let just stop complaining and move on and learn and be prepared the next time.:blowkiss:

well-said.

 

[Celt1997]

That was not my intent at all. All I was trying to say things aren't always what they seem. We never know the entire story. I would never hold info over someone not my nature, just want people to stop and think before spectulating of the cuff.

I think everyone from TES, searchers, donors, prayer etc. deserve a big pat on the back. Everyone of us filled a needed spot let just stop complaining and move on and learn and be prepared the next time.:blowkiss:

I knew what your intent was. I also know, though, that there are times when emotions take over on this case and some people may have been put off by the tone of the post. That being said, I agree with you that a lot of the emotions come out because of the speculation that goes on.

 

[Baznme]

That was not my intent at all. All I was trying to say things aren't always what they seem. We never know the entire story. I would never hold info over someone not my nature, just want people to stop and think before spectulating of the cuff.

I think everyone from TES, searchers, donors, prayer etc. deserve a big pat on the back. Everyone of us filled a needed spot let just stop complaining and move on and learn and be prepared the next time.:blowkiss:

Well said GrannyL. Thanks for all your help this weekend.

 

[GRANNYL]

I guess you would have had to be there to understand. I've done SAR before (2004 during all the hurricanes we had), so I was not oblivious to what was going on. I've supported the Army for 20 years, and my husband's efforts in the Mid. East. I appreciate your recommendations, but in my current civilian employment role in security, investigations and project management, I think I'm pretty well educated on how things work. The whole point of my starting this thread, was to vent on how disorganized the search was due to the number of volunteers. If you are going to advertise for a search of this magnitude, you need to be prepared as an "organizer".

You know FloridaKatz our backgrounds run parallel except my husband was in the Navy 30 years and I am way older than you, LOL! My employment is exactly the same and our goal is to find Caylee so maybe we should ask everyone to stop the bickering here and encourage everyone here to stop and say a prayer she is found soon!:blowkiss:

 

[shaz4372]

well, it should also be noted 7-2 is a lot more than 2 hours. my issue was with the people needing fast food 1 hour into a 2 hour search. a 7 hour trip would require a lot of water, and certainly also food at some point.

but 1 hour into a 2 hour search? at that point, suck it up and finish or just go home. i'm not apologizing for feeling that way. it's a dead little girl, not a treasure hunt for fun.

My teams never left at two hours we were there as longas needed and we made sure we had plenty of water for everyone!!!! People had snacks etc. If you didn't that was your own fault. They never promised water or food we were told to bring our own, why didn't you? I always started out drinking a bottle of water and with two waters in my fanny pack. One time felt like I needed water before getting back to the car and asked if anyone had an extra and had lots offered to me.

I think your team was the exception not the rule. Sorry this happened to you. By the way I toted everything you did and at times was in terrible palmetto tikets you couldn't see through and I stayed right up there with the group, most of the time waiting for others to catch up and I am 67 years old and have two artificial knees getting the last one this past January 28th. You are responsible for yourself and you let yourself down by not getting supplies before going into the woods. JMO:blowkiss:

Thank you for that.
The complaints made, seem to be of they're own doing.

 

[everyoneneedsavoice]

OP thanks for posting this and to all of the other posters thanks for sharing your input as well. I understand the emotions here, but I don't understand all of the defensiveness. I didn't take anyone's post as bashing TM or TES; they were just sharing their opinions.

If people needed water and didn't have it, then imo, shame on TES. I donate monthly to TES with an employer match, I might add; and donated extra for this search; along with multiple Quiznos and Popeye's food deliveries; and between my family and I, we donated many, many cases of water. These donations were requested for the searchers, and I would like to have known that the organizers of this search would have ensured that ALL of the searchers had what they needed before sending them out. I know we're all adults, but I also know that many people have never searched before and might not know exactly what to bring with them; regardless of the training given to the team leaders the night before.

Whether they had an experienced Team Leader, searchers or were in physical shape to search, or not; to me I'm thankful that they offered their services.

If the search organizers / TES felt they weren't in appropriate condition to search, maybe they could've assigned them other tasks; as it sounds like it would've been helpful.

Many of us contributed to this search, whether by financial, physical, or spiritual means and I don't think anyone deserves to be bashed for sharing their opinions and / or venting about their experiences.
For those of you who had better experiences than the OP, that's great. I think everyone would agree that is how we wanted it to be for all involved. But, it obviously wasn't.
I think everyone can learn from this experience...the searchers, contributors, and TES. I hope that we all will take something from this and use it to better our next efforts; whether it be searching for another poor soul or not.

I think we all put too much trust in TES, maybe that's where we went wrong, who knows? I do think TM's comments about NG and LP were in extremely poor taste and out of character for him. Especially considering the multiple pleas from NG and LP for donations to TES. I don't think that could ever be explained well enough for me to understand. Leaves me with a really bad taste in my mouth.

Lastly, I certainly hope there is a reason that TM recanted on his word to search at least until Tuesday; as I'm sure many people were affected by this decision. Those who traveled great distances to learn the search was ending; those who were preparing to travel, bought tickets, took off from work, etc. I keep telling myself there has to be a reason, and I hope I'm right...if not, it will truly change my feelings about TES, for whatever that's worth.

I apologize for the length of this post, I didn't intend on saying all of this, it just kept going and going and going...like the energizer bunny. LOL

 

[Laece]

Thank you for that.
The complaints made, seem to be of they're own doing.

please keep in mind granny's quoted post above was to floridakatz, not me.


but you're welcome.

 

[magnolia]

You have GOT to be kidding!

First off, TES site says to bring your own food.
2nd off, anyone who needs to continually eat food every 2-3 hours - something's wrong with them.

It's not like this was a 5 day trek up to Denali's peak or something.

I'm with you. I don't quite understand that either. :waitasec: There are plenty of days when I eat a small breakfast,get busy, and go all day long until late evening without eating.

 

[shaz4372]

Maybe TES found something that caused the end to the search. I mean its a stretch to think that, but it is possible and maybe they're just not releasing the information.

 

[magnolia]

I realy feel Tim Miller has an "ego" and "jealousy" thing going on here.. It sickened me everytime he appeared on tv and mentioned the $$ amount he has spent to search for Caylee to date.

THAT was unprofessional IMO. It made Tim look like he was not there for the right reasons, although he may have been.

I was shocked when Tim chose to pull out of the search 1 day early. He was full speed aand all heppedd up when he arrived. I feel he could have given it more and put a plea out for MORE donations. 50,000. were donated forr this search.

I've sat on my hands and tried to refrain from posting my opinion of TM out of fear that I might offend someone.
You said what I have wanted to say for quite awhile.
I agree with you. However, I don't think the pulling out is all about "ego and jealousy" or CA. Just something I've observed......Sitting on my hands again now.:shutup: :hen:

I have faith in LP. I think he is a smart man.

IMO

 

[LeLe1953]

I don't have an answer to that, and we may never know. What I do know is that Tim received phone calls from the family in NC pleading with him to help them...now, this man hasn't been gone for 5 months. How could Tim refuse to help them find their (possibly live) family member because he was in FL searching for a little girl who's gone and whose mother knows where she is and simply won't tell?

I want Caylee to be found just as much as everyone else, but would I forsake the family in NC being able to have a happy ending for it? Absolutely not. Caylee will not have a happy ending, the best we can hope for at this point is for her to be found and laid to rest...her egg donor made sure of that.

I am not familar with a man missing from a residental center but I do know of a 45 yr old woman, Moua. She went missing about 45 minutes from me. She is a diabetic that needs meds 4x a day & has some mental health issues. She would be an easy target for bad people. I thought it was her family that went & asked TM to come back & search. They have been here before. That is the search I will help with when I get offical word,

 

[Macushla]

In regards to the phones - it did take a while for the phones to get put together and get them up and running. BUT they were up and running by 12 noon on Saturday, they were not down all day long, I know this because that was my job - answering the phones. I can imagine how frustrating it was to the searchers who were out early, found something, needed guidance and only got an answering machine. I am also sorry for the searchers who had difficulty - no matter what that difficulty was. It was chaotic Saturday morning - but somehow, some way, everything got done, people got sent out and a huge area was searched.

Tim Miller took his greatest loss and turned it into something worthwhile and wonderful. He and the good people of TES have my highest regard and admiration. I will keep them in my heart at all times as they continue to try and help families who have endured the most tragic situation a family can endure - a member of their family is gone and no one knows where they are.

Sometimes, no matter how badly we want something, it doesn't happen. Sometimes no matter how much we hope, an answer is never found.

 

[EmMomma]

I am not familar with a man missing from a residental center but I do know of a 45 yr old woman, Moua. She went missing about 45 minutes from me. She is a diabetic that needs meds 4x a day & has some mental health issues. She would be an easy target for bad people. I thought it was her family that went & asked TM to come back & search. They have been here before. That is the search I will help with when I get offical word,

Oh, ok, so it's a woman...I"m sure we're talking about the same person.
Sorry.

 

[Nosey Parker]

Tim Miller took his greatest loss and turned it into something worthwhile and wonderful. He and the good people of TES have my highest regard and admiration. I will keep them in my heart at all times as they continue to try and help families who have endured the most tragic situation a family can endure - a member of their family is gone and no one knows where they are.

Sometimes, no matter how badly we want something, it doesn't happen. Sometimes no matter how much we hope, an answer is never found.

That's so eloquent, Macushia. Thank you.

I have thought for a while that Tim is possibly still naive about how the press and egotistical players will manipulate to get what they want from a situation. I know he has carried out many high profile searches before but I don't think he has ever been involved in dynamics like these. I think he speaks from his heart and perhaps sometimes has cause to regret his words later. I'm probably not making myself very clear, and I'm certainly not criticizing this wonderful man, but I think he has been manipulated by the A family and entourage. Hopefully he can put the whole thing behind him for now, and achieve success in the new search.

 

[TxLady2]

Wow!
Just want to say thanks to anyone who did go and search this past weekend, I think you all should be praised for helping in any way you could. I'm really sorry for any problems some of you had.
I only have one question... why the lengthy discussion and warning to the team leaders about not bashing the A's while searching? That should have been a given... anyone who has the sense to search should know that that defeats the purpose of searching for Caylee. If you waste time bad-mouthing someone, you lose energy and I would think tromping through all those thickets would take a lot of energy!

 

[EgyptNug]

Any WS'rs that were there searching this weekend know what I'm talking about.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

With that said, I REALLY DO appreciate what TES stands for, but can see why little Caylee hasn't been found yet.

I totally agree. Things were SO disorganized on Saturday. I heard how disappointed TES was that only half the amount of searchers they'd expected showed up, yet i cannot IMAGINE what chaos it would have been if there were 3,000 or more searchers there. Both days we sat around for 2 hours before we got sent out. Once we were out, the team leaders knew no more than us (our leaders day 1 were experts that got so frustrated at the lack of organization or response that they left at noon (they had planned to stay searching and leading for three days.). I am amazed that teams/people saw LE come out, we waited and waited sun for a CSU and they never came. We should have called 911 like the other poster's group did.

This wouldn't bother me so much if I didn't hear TM on his SM interview say how disappointed he was at the turnout and how locals didn't come out (that's gist, not verbatim). That can't be blamed because there is no way that TES could have supervised 5,000 people, in my opinion. The logistics and distribution aspect of 1500 people didn't even work (re: transportation, supervision, ice and water. )

I do not feel at all comfortable that stuff was not overlooked. And if it was overlooked, it was bc of the total lack of organization and response that team leaders were faced with. I am not knocking Tim Miller, that man has done a lot. (I don't agree with his discouraging comments Sun. night, but he's human and allowed to feel down.) I don't know if he doesn't have the support systems in place to run that big a search, or where things fell apart, but he can't be expected to do everything himself, he's one man. That being said, with weeks of preparation, how things could be so unorganized was confusing. Sorry if this is the unpopular vote here.

ETA: At the end of the day criticism is not going to find Caylee, so that is not my intention. I just am glad that those of us that are frustrating or worried that stuff was overlooked, can say that. Nothing more, nothing less.

 

[shotzie]

First I want to say a BIG THANK YOU :clap::clap::clap: to all the searchers..just to be out there to be supporting a search is awesome..an the food thing I don't understand since they were screaming for Food for you guys and the great group on Murt's Mobile came thru Max..I personally sent Pizza's and water..Pizza Hut was awesome about this whole thing. It didn't bother me to donate, because since I couldn't be there, In California guys..that is the least I could do for the Searchers. I already donated multiple times to Tess.

As far as the organization of this, does sound kinda a mess..Tess knew ahead of time how big this search was going to be and it takes a lot of organization.

I work at a place we have up to 20,000.+ people coming to events, all going in different directions but our Manager just knows how to put it in order and everything runs smooth. so hopefully they get someone more organized in this field next time.

On the nightclub issue, I saw that advertisement and said WHAT, this did not seem right first this attorney never has stood up for this search, but now he is kissing Tim's A##. advertising his bar..did he make any money on drinks..:woohoo:I know I am bad, can't stand this guy.

It's been a long weekend for everyone, searcher and all of us that waited patiently and a big let down, especially after Tim said he was leaving.

The part that pissed me off is this lady that he was going to leave for to the Carolina's standing there Laughing, what's to laugh about, we were just finding out No Caylee and then TESS leaving, very sad day

I guess I come from a world that your word is Gold. you say something you stand by it..( I will stay thru Tues)Oh sorry that was the old days