*** Searchers find 2-Year-old Girl Safe and Well! ***

From: Patrick J. Keane [pkeane@net66.com]
To: sarinfo@istar.ca
Date: June 3rd 1998
McLean County, Illinois

Within an hour of the time I got back to Illinois from the NASAR confence,
I was asked to work a search, as the on-site State Searchmaster, for a
missing 2 year old girl, Lakin Timke. The search was already 6 hours old
when I was contacted, and no sign of the girl had been found.

She had gone missing from her Grandmother's house, which is located in
a rural area of McLean County. The area immediately surrounding the house
was covered in 2-3 foot high grass for approximately 1/8 mi in all
directions. Bordering the grassy areas were heavy woods with thick
underbrush.

The subject was described as a white female, 2 years old, blond hair,
wearing white shorts, a white T-shirt with pink and red on it and a red
and white scarf. She was known to be extremely shy, and her parents
stated that she probably would not be responsive to searchers.

Because of the density of the foliage, and following 6 hours of
unsuccessful search by the County Sheriff's Department, 3 local fire
departments and a number of ATVs and horses, the Sheriff's Department
started investigating the case as a possible abduction, but, just to
cover all bases, requested assistance from the Illinois Emergency
Management Agency. 

Upon my arrival, I attempted, through interviews of the various
organizations on-site, to determine the areas searched, and possible
PODs. The local searchers, while enthusiastic in there efforts, were
untrained in search, and had, in fact, conducted a series of hasty
searches. Using a helicopter from the Illinois Department of
Transportation, Division of Aeronautics, the local incident commander
and myself conducted a aerial survey of the potential search area. 

While we were getting a feel for the terrain, the searchers were
signed-in to the search base and organized into 5 man crews, a
supporting base camp structure was established, and teams from around
the area, who were trained in Critical Separation, were brought in to
augment the local efforts. 

Following the aerial assessment, the area was segmented and POAs
identified. As POD numbers could not reasonably be determined for the
previous efforts, it was determined to simply establish the first
operational period from 1600 to 2400 hours, and begin a Type II, high
efficiency search of the high POA areas. The critical separation trained
search teams were dispatched to the two highest POA areas, and quick
training was provided to the untrained searchers in critical separation.
These teams were then briefed on how to search for the subject (in, on,
and under objects) and assigned their search areas. 

After approximately two hours, as the incident commander and I were
planning resources and strategies for the upcoming night shift, the
child was located by one of the search teams. Lakin had traveled
approximately 0.25 miles through very heavy, dense woods and underbrush,
and was found in the center of several old water heaters - asleep! 

While dehydrated, and sporting a large scrape on her face and bruised
ribs, she was otherwise OK when she was reunited with her family.

The fact that this area had been "searched" on several occasions, and
determined, locally, to be impossible for the subject to have traversed,
shows again the need for comprehensive search training - ground search
team "searcher skills" training, search planning, and search management
training. Fortunately, in this case, the separation of the investigation
of a possible criminal activity from the lost person search, and the
local government's request for assistance in the search management led
to a successful save.

Submitted by:  Patrick J. Keane Illinois Emergency Management Agency