CASART - 10th Activation

VISCHER FERRY SEARCH
Saratoga County, NY 11/29-30/05

CASART was notified on Monday 11/28/05 by the NYSFEDSAR to activate the team for 8:00a.m Tuesday 11/29/05.  Type III and Crew Bosses had been requested by NYS Forest Rangers to search for Elizabeth Halstead or subject a white female age 40, mother of three, who suffers from schizophrenia and depression.  The subject was reported missing Wednesday 11/23/05 and her car was discovered Saturday evening 11/26/05 at the trail head to the Vischer Ferry Nature Preserve.  Forest Rangers and local Fire Department volunteers had conducted Type I and Type II searches on Sunday and Monday and K-9 teams had been used without success.  No foul play was suspected.

The following nine (9) CASART members reported to the Incident Command Post at the Vischer Ferry Fire Department in Rexford, NY and participated in one and/or two days of the two day search: Jerry Barr, Jim Holt, Bruce Knudsen, Nancy Langham, Bob Liddle, Greg O’Hara, Connie Perry, Doug Pirnie and Eileen Tobin.

The area searched ranged from open fields to re-growth forest with sections of dense thorny vines.  There had been snow and ice a few days before, but it had thawed by Tuesday leaving no easily identifiable tracks and conditions were wet and swampy in places.  State Police helicopters flew on Wednesday.  On Wednesday it was discovered that the subject had withdrawn all her money from her savings and checking accounts several days before she went missing.  This led us to suspect that the subject might have staged her disappearance in the Forest Preserve.  Mid-afternoon on Wednesday the search was terminated when the Saratoga County Sheriff’s Department was notified by North Adams, Massachusetts authorities that the subject had been taken to the North Adams Regional Hospital after she was discovered attempting to enter a building looking for shelter.

To find out more about the team or to get a membership application write to CASART at P.O. Box 143, Inlet, NY 13360, call us at 315-357-4381, visit our web site at www.casart.org, or send email to webmaster@casart.org.

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