Unorganized Searching

[EmMomma]

Here's what confuses me. It was a huge, highly planned operation set to end on Tuesday with a lot of ground to cover. It was SET to end on Tuesday for a reason I have to imagine. I'm sure everything was mapped out according to that end date of what they would cover. Why stop before Tuesday?

I did not think they would find her btw, and I don't think he had any obligation to stay past the date he stated. I didn't put too much stock in the notion that he would stay until she was found because that's not realistic. But why not complete the task?

Anyway, whatever.

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.

 

[LiveLoveLaughLiza]

And in the midst of the circus, dealing with media, a lunatic family that doesn't want him searching, and having already conducted searches for this missing person who we all know to be dead.... in the midst of ALL of that there is a family in North Carolina BEGGING Tim and his people to come there where a disabled family member has wander off from a residential treatment environment and has not been located. He might be alive and time is ticking away and Tim is dealing with the Anthony show. Keep in mind the purpose of the group he founded, that they work in all other cases with the families, to bring comfort and resolution to the family. The stark reality is that Caylee might never be found, and if they need to come back in a couple of weeks Caylee is not going to die in those weeks. The family of the man in NC cannot be told the same thing.

This post made me cry.....exactly why TM does what he does.

 

[EmMomma]

Just an FYI, and I can't speak for anyone else, but I was out longer than 2 hours on more than one occasion.
All this bickering about who needs to eat what when and how people should have come prepared is taking focus from Caylee...which is exactly what Team Anthony and the defense want.

 

[concentric]

Look, I think we can afford some degree of patience. Some piece of evidence will eventually be so compelling that a search will recover her body.

 

[impatientredhead]

This post made me cry.....exactly why TM does what he does.

Just found this:

Strait Talk with Texas EquuSearch's Tim Miller

*snipped*
"When I asked him why he suspended the search effort, Tim had this to say:

'I feel as though we accomplished a lot. Nearly all of the areas that law enforcement wanted covered have been searched. We generated far more resources than before. We now have 100 local members on the scene. They are capable of doing a good job and they are going to continue looking for Caylee. I challenge anyone to sit in my office and when the family of a missing person calls, tell them that they can't be helped until Caylee is found. Someone else can, cause I'm not going to do that.' "

http://blogs.discovery.com/criminal_...-wit.html#more

 

[LI_Mom]

I agree with EVERYTHING YOU'VE SAID. Tim is a fine man and I don't know what happened but it is too weird to figure out so I'm letting it go. But your hypothesis sounds very plausible to me. I'll take it.

Yep.... Tim is an angel & a hero but he's human.

People are naturally confused about how quickly the search seemed to 'fall apart.' There MUST be a reason why he came back & that same reason must be why there was a sudden IMPLOSION.

I think ALL the blame rests squarely on all those who work endlessly to DEFEND CASEY'S IMAGE..... a real team effort at working against all efforts that might punch holes in their pathetic attempts to save Casey.

Tim's soul cannot withstand their "It's ALL about CASEY" movement.... no sane or humane person can handle that crap graciously for very long.

 

[concentric]

Yep. Go for the ones who might still be alive, first.

 

[EmMomma]

You know.... now I have to wonder if Nejame & the Anthonys promised Tim he would have their FULL support if he came back?

Perhaps the defense specifically wanted to lull Tim back in hopes he would NOT find Caylee & that would help Casey's defense?

Once Tim returned he quickly saw nothing had really changed but his back was against the wall & he tried to make the best of a bad situation... the search went on for appearances sake.

I, for one, hope Tim NEVER comes back to search for Caylee at least until AFTER Casey is convicted & sentenced. He's just TOO decent & TOO compassionate to be used & abused by people he's only trying to help.

His only reason for searching is to help VICTIMS.... not to be used as a pawn by a family trying to defend a pathological liar.

TES should devote its time & energy toward helping families who WANT to be helped.... leave all ingrates behind.

I agree, I agree, I agree. :clap:
Things started all warm and fuzzy between Team A and TES on Friday night, and I have a feeling things went down a slippery slope from there...well, NeJame was there Saturday morning, but we all know that PR/damage control is becoming more important by the hour...
As for NOT FINDING Caylee...I'm sure that was the ulterior motive...more than sure, I'm positive. Same reason C is now inviting/encouraging people to search however they see fit...
The smugness from this family is amazing...there must be a reason for it.

 

[FloridaKatz]

People were instructed to bring plenty of water and food for themselves. You find something you were to mark it and move on the team lead was the person to be debreifed with the info found. You had no reason to WAIT for someone to check it out. Mark and move on............. Apparently, your group did not follow instructions, and yes I consider "food and water" petty issues. If CSI, dogs, LE were not available it was the TEAM LEADER to bring it to the attention of the de-briefers and they gave the MARKED AREAS to the proper jurisdication, the police dept or the sheriff's dept, Forensic's or a search dog was sent to the area. Every team was not given these people on the spot due to the large amount of TEAMS going out. When we did find something we thought was important we called another TEAM LEADER in out area......... and we went to pick up the CSI person. My TEAM LEADER spoke to a sheriff at COMMAND CENTER to ask for verification our spot was checked.

We went to McDonald's for lunch and to our surprise we were given a 50% discount. Instead of going back to the Command Center for more ice.... the manager offered us ice for out coolers and gave us water. Ask and you shall receive................ Self-reliance is an important issue when dealing with the unknown.

And how exactly were we supposed to mark it? The CSI's were the holders of the flags and crime scene tape, and we couldn't get any of them on other teams to give any of the flags/tape up to us. I guess I could have taken off a piece of clothing, torn it apart and marked it that way. Geez, didn't think of it at the time. And like I said earlier, the TES line was directed to VM all day Saturday, and we weren't given an alternative number to call.

Good for you that your team leader got briefed. My husband and I both were team leaders, and we did not get briefed. We did not get maps, we got NADA, eventhough we asked for them. We were told to go to BP and start looking. That's it. As far as following detailed instructions, none were given to us.

My husband is an Army Commander and has done this kind of thing in the Middle East, looking for lost/deceased soldiers, so we knew exactly what we were doing, and what we needed to bring with us for nourishment. Our teams (his and mine) searched for 7 hours straight without taking a break, like going to Macdonalds or whatever, because that's what our team members wanted to do. It would have been nice if someone with TES had organized water runs to the search locations. When you're in a POV, you go with what the owner of the POV wants to do.


My searching from now on will be with an Army of 6 who have organizational training and skills.

 

[Anubis]

It sounds to me like many assumptions were made about the people who showed up for the search. As a SAR member here in Placer County, it has been drilled into our heads about what to wear, what to bring ( a MINIMUM of 100 oz of water. I use a camelpak and these lovely little snackpacks called GoGoo or other energy gels that are FABULOUS and tasty. You must be prepared for all types of conditions. chesterp has the basics down correctly. floridakatz, it sounds like your group got the short end of the stick and/or a team leader who was clueless. It is also up to the INDIVIDUAL to take a break and advise the others of what you need to do. Searching for 7 hours straight without a break is inexecusable. As far as not getting dogs, or CSI folks or whatnot, that is just not feasible if it is a very large search that is why searchers are advised to MARK and MOVE ON unless it is something completely obvious (like a body). Please don't be discouraged from volunteering again but please don't be afraid to speak up either. If you don't understand what is needed, ask a team lead. If the team leader seems full of sh*t, ask another team lead or a command officer. I gotta say it seems odd that they just let anyone who showed up go out and search for these very reasons (after all, we don't want the searchers to become the victims, which has happened).

 

[EmMomma]

Interesting read, found at: http://www.trutv.com/library/crime/criminal_mind/forensics/texas_equusearch/15.html


When asked what criteria he uses to decide whether to devote resources to a case, Miller responds that Amber Alerts come first: missing children may be found alive, rescued, and returned to their rightful families. After that, the priority goes to Alzheimer's patients or people who need medication who have wandered away. They're often found within hours. Then TES will investigate other missing people, but in the case of apparent runaways, they will generally advise parents on the work they must do, and will distribute fliers and place notices on the TES Web site, www.Texasequusearch.org.

 

[concentric]

My searching from now on will be with an Army of 6 who have organizational training and skills.

I truly believe that you and your team will be a major contributor in finding out what happened. God bless you.

 

[fay]

Please don't take this wrong, but some searchers I noticed did not look physically fit enough to take on the search. People do get enthusiastic, but you have to know your limitations. It was tough in some places and we were very able to get through it but I wonder about some others.
JMHO

 

[DotsEyes]

Sounds like TES needs someone on the ground with really good organization skills to set up everything long before the searchers start arriving.

 

[Anubis]

Another search I followed on-line four years ago was huge. They followed protocol to the T. However, when some of the searchers decided to go out on their own, they met with tremendous resistance from LE. Reason being: LE said that they had already "cleared" the area and no one was allowed to enter. This area was precisely where some volunteers (both on-line and in the field) believed was in the "comfort zone" of the perpetrator, and would be the place where he would leave the victim, perhaps still alive.

I'm sorry, I'm tearful as I write this: The victim's body WAS many months later found in the area closed off to the volunteer searchers.

Can you please reference the case here?

 

[EmMomma]

Please don't take this wrong, but some searchers I noticed did not look physically fit enough to take on the search. People do get enthusiastic, but you have to know your limitations. It was tough in some places and we were very able to get through it but I wonder about some others.
JMHO

AGREED. That's all I have to say about that.

 

[Laece]

Oh my gosh!

All people have different metabolisms.... some eat twice a day & some need to eat very frequently in order to feel ok.

Let's just assume some people arrived & really didn't know what to expect.... they didn't know how physically demanding a search could be. They weren't prepared for the Florida weather OR the terrain.

What's the harm in letting them gripe a bit about their selfless efforts to find this little girl? Letting off steam does NOTHING to diminish their devotion to the search OR to the organization OR to Tim.

like i said, just asking. what's the harm in letting me ask that question? and i also just noticed i wasn't the only one who asked this question, so i wasn't the only thinking this way or curious about this fact.

i just know how i like to be, and that is prepared and prioritized. my main goal would be to find this little girl, and waiting one more hour to fill my stomach again would not have stopped me. if i thought it would get in the way of it, i would have tried to find another way to help, or i would have made sure i had enough food. like i said, water is different.

seriously, it's 2 hours. that's not a long time in the scheme of anything, including a search. be prepared or help another way instead of interrupting a very important search to go grab fast food in the middle of it.

it does sound very disorganized.

 

[FloridaKatz]

Sounds like TES needs someone on the ground with really good organization skills to set up everything long before the searchers start arriving.

Exactly.

 

[shaz4372]

Volunteers were asked to bring they're own food & water.
They ran out half way through a 2 hour assignment? So You had food & water & left the search because 1 Hour later you needed more? Weird, most people can have breakfast and be good for hours till lunch. (???) I searched, & yeah there was thick brush, but come on, it wasn't like mountain climbing. This is how others get the wrong impression, by people that exaggerate.....

You obviously were not in the same area we were. Or else you are super human and need no constent water nourishment. See my later post. and btw, I have no reason to "exaggerate".

And btw, our team had to take a POV, and we searched from 7 until 2pm without a break, so yea, we ran out of water.

Yeah I am not superhuman, I just had lots of 'water nourishment' (because I
followed instruction and brought plenty of water in my backpack)

 

[Anubis]

And how exactly were we supposed to mark it?

My husband is an Army Commander and has done this kind of thing in the Middle East, looking for lost/deceased soldiers, so we knew exactly what we were doing, and what we needed to bring with us for nourishment. Our teams (his and mine) searched for 7 hours straight without taking a break, like going to Macdonalds or whatever, because that's what our team members wanted to do. It would have been nice if someone with TES had organized water runs to the search locations. When you're in a POV, you go with what the owner of the POV wants to do.
My searching from now on will be with an Army of 6 who have organizational training and skills.

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.