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
