AR Wing Ground Team assists in finding woman lost in Ozark National Forest

[cap235629]

At the request of the Franklin County Arkansas Office of Emergency Services and the Arkansas Department of Emergency Management, a ground team from the 83rd Composite Squadron in Fort Smith Arkansas was sent to the Ozark National Forest north of Mulberry Arkansas to assist in locating a missing woman.

The 30 year old woman with a history of mental illness called 911 on Tuesday July 17th at approximately 1300 hours stating she was lost in the woods near the Shores Lake recreation area.  When dispatchers lost communication with the woman, a search was launched.

Sheriff's deputies and local SAR teams searched through the night for the woman and a request was made for CAP assistance on the morning of July 18th.  A ground team consisting of Maj William Chiles, C/2dLt Tristan Pacheco, C/MSgt Tyler Atkins, C/MSgt Ryan Poppe and C/Amn Thomas Creekmore arrived in the area in the afternoon of the 18th.

The woman was found at approximately 1900 hrs in the search grid adjacent to the grid being searched by the CAP Ground Team.

After spending over 24 hours in the woods, the woman appeared to be alert, dehydrated and tired when found.  She was taken to a local hospital for treatment and reunited with her friends and family shortly thereafter.

The Arkansas Wing and the Fort Smith Composite Squadron routinely train in the area that the woman went missing as part multi-agency training events.  The relationships built in these training events and the familiarity the Fort Smith Squadron has with the area and terrain have built excellent working relationships that resulted in the request for CAP resources.


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[RogueLeader]

Bravo Zulu. :clap: :clap: :clap:

[Garibaldi]

Our unit was called up and told to stand down 3 hours later. I was NOT looking forward to traipsing around the woods in 100+ degree heat, but I would have done it.