law enforcement concludes missing man is not in coke ...2013/11/01  · commander greg pyles’...

Members of Texas Searcha n d R e s c u e a n d v a r i o u slaw enforcement agenciesb e g a n a r r i v i n g l a s tWe d n e s d a y e v e n i n g f o rThursday’s massive searchfor Brandon Lawson.

This la tes t search s temsf r o m a n i n c i d e n t w h i c hoccurred jus t before 1 amFriday, August 9, 2013. I tb e g a n w i t h a 9 11 c a l labout a s t randed motor is tj u s t sou th o f B ron t e onHighway 277. The dr iverw a s n o t a t t h e v e h i c l ew h e n C h i e f D e p u t yBrandon Neal arr ived jus ta f t e r 1 am. However a tthis t ime, investigation hasr e v e a l e d t h a t B r a n d o nLawson was hiding in thebrush (due to an outstand-ing felony warrant) watch-i n g D e p u t y N e a l w h i l espeak ing t o h i s b ro the r,Kyle Lawson, on h is ce l lp h o n e . Acco rd ing toLadessa Lofton, no one hasheard f rom Lawson s incethis t ime.

T h e C o k e C o u n t ySheriff ’s O ff i ce , i n con -junct ion with DPS and theTe x a s R a n g e r s , h a dalready conducted an aer-i a l s ea rch and a g roundgrid search without reveal-i n g a n y c l u e s t o h i swhereabouts.

To rule out the possibi l -i t y t h a t L a w s o n h a dbecome los t in the brusha n d d i e d , C o k e C o u n t ySheriff Wayne McCutchenapproved a s ea rch us ingcadaver or human remains( H R ) d o g s . The sea rchw a s s c h e d u l e d f o rThursday, O c t o b e r 2 4 ,2013.

Members of Texas Searchand Rescue p rov ided s ixH R d o g s , h a n d l e r s a n df l a n k e r s i n a d d i t i o n t on u m e r o u s s u p p o r t a n dlogist ics personnel for thissearch. According to GregP y l e s , Te x S A R C h i e fE x e c u t i v e O f f i c e r a n dI n c i d e n t C o m m a n d e r ,TexSAR expended approxi-m a t e l y $ 2 5 , 0 0 0 f o r t h i ssearch. TexSAR is a non-p r o f i t o rgan iza t ion com-ple te ly suppor ted by pr i -va te and corpora te dona-tions. The group only con-d u c t s l a w e n f o r c e m e n tapproved searches.

TexSAR uses “math andscience” based upon infor-m a t i o n p r o v i d e d b y t h ef a m i l y t o d e t e r m i n e t h es i z e a n d a r e a t o b esea rched . The o rganiza-t i o n h a s a g r e a t t r a c krecord with a 95% successra t e . Thei r f indings andrepor ts have proven accu-r a t e a n d h a v e s t o o d u punder scru t iny when usedin court cases.

TexSAR’s team includedoff i c e r s w i t h TexasD i v i s i o n o f E m e r gencyM a n a g e m e n t , C e n - TexSearch and Rescue and theL e w i s v i l l e P o l i c eD e p a r t m e n t . The y a l so

brought in two game war-dens with Texas Parks andWi l d l i f e . I n c i d e n tC o m m a n d e r G r e g P y l e s ’r e sume l i s t s s eve ra l l awenforcement posit ions, twoof which inc lude the USSta te Depar tment opera t -ing overseas with diplomats e c u r i t y a n d f o l l o w i n g9/11 , a t ime wi th the USTr a n s p o r t a t i o n S e c u r i t yAdministration.

The TexSAR canines arehighly t ra ined. These HRdogs wil l not “hit” on var-mint carcasses . However,d e a d h o g s s o m e t i m e sprove a d is t rac t ion to HRa n i m a l s . E a c h h a n d l e rwears a gps device whichprovided Brandon Goering,Operat ions Sect ion Chief ,a n e x t r e m e l y d e t a i l e da n a l y s i s o f a l l a r e acovered.

The search was extendedto the nor theast fol lowing

one HR dog showing sl ighti n t e r e s t . H o w e v e r e v e nw i t h t h e e x t e n s i o n , t h esearch revealed no s ign ofB r a n d o n L a w s o n – n orema ins , no c lo th ing , nowal le t , no cel l phone, andno keys.

Fol lowing a conversat ionw i t h S h e r i f f M c C u t c h e nand Range r N ick Hanna ,the inves t igat ion wi l l turne l s e w h e r e a n d w i l l n o ti n c l u d e a n y f u r t h e rs e a r c h e s u n l e s s n e wdetailed information arises.

For more informat ion onTexSAR or to make a dona-t ion, v is i t thei r websi te a ttexsar.org.

Page 12 Friday, November 1, 2013 The Observer/Enterprise

Not Just for Working Sheep! Border Collies arefamous for their abilities to herd livestock, but whowould have realized how wonderful they would be as HRdogs? These are three of the HR canines brought in forlast Thursday’s search. The other HR dogs used that dayincluded a Doberman, a Standard Poodle, and whatappeared to be a Husky cross.

Everyone associated with Thursday’s search gathers atthe old Coke County Juvenile Justice facility for amorning briefing before heading out into the field.

As each sector was cleared, the dogs, their handlersand flankers, would return to the Coke County JuvenileJustice facility to rest and to discuss and report anyfindings.

Law enforcement concludes missingman is not in Coke County

Editorial &AdvertisingDeadline is12 noon on

Tuesdaypreceding

publication.

BSERVER/NTERPRISEOET

H

E

Serving Coke CountyP.O. Box 1329 Robert Lee, TX 76945

(915) 453-2433