CASART - 18th Activation

DEKALB JUNCTION SEARCH & RECOVERY
St. Lawrence County, NY 05/17/07

CASART was activated for a search & rescue mission in the Town of DeKalb in St. Lawrence County on Thursday 05/17/07 by the New York State Federation of Search and Rescue Teams (NYSFEDSAR).  Four CASART members reported to the Incident Command Post (ICP) at 8:00a.m., Tina Bradt, Ron Dearlove, Nancy Langham and Greg O'Hara.  Three members were assigned as Crew Bosses to lead Type III searches and one member was assigned to a Type III crew.  The Forest Rangers had set up the ICP at the Fire House in the Village of DeKalb Junction to search for an 87 year old man, Leon (Joe) Simmons or subject, who was last seen early Tuesday evening 05/15/07 and was reported missing when he failed to return home about an hour after he left to dig for leeks for dinner that evening.  The subject was reported to be in good physical condition and of sound mind.  Rangers, police, fire fighters and other volunteers searched Tuesday evening and Wednesday without finding a trace of the subject.  The search continued on Thursday morning and around 11:00a.m., the crew that was led by Nancy Langham found the subject deceased, lying face down in a field behind a farm house.  An autopsy determined the cause of death to be from hypothermia.  Finding the subject deceased was made more difficult since three of the subject’s family members were on Nancy’s crew and three of the subject’s family members were on Greg’s crew.  The weather was good, temperatures in the upper fifties and the terrain was easy to moderate in farm country.

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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