This list only includes significant missions and does not include many requests to stand by for a deployment or missions where 1SRG acted in an advisory role.
January, 1998 (SAR) - Fiji - Missing American Hiker. Deployed and located subject.
A 38 year old male from San Diego, CA, USA was last seen on 22 Dec 1998 on the island of Waya. He set off for an early morning hike and expected to return at noon the same day. Over the next few weeks, local police, villagers, and family members scoured the island seeking the subject. 1SRG arrived in Fiji on 09 Jan 99, deployed five members and two canines to the island of Waya, and rapidly found and recovered the subject's remains, thus demonstrating that the concept of a "light" international search and rescue team is viable.
August, 1999 (SAR) - Australia - Missing American in Great Sandy
Desert.
(A formal writeup is available here.)
Robert Bogucki, 33, a volunteer fireman from Fairbanks, Alaska, was reported missing on July 26rd. Extensive search efforts by local resources confirmed that he had traveled out into the 40,000 square mile Great Sandy Desert but were unable to locate him. After two weeks, the search effort was terminated. Mr. Bogucki's parents contacted 1SRG for assistance.
A twelve person, three canine team deployed to Australia on August 15th and commenced operations on the 17th, entered the desert on the 19th and found recent signs of Robert's passage almost immediately. On August 22nd, the team located a cache of Robert's gear and on August 23rd Robert was located, alive.
The story of Robert's adventure and the search effort was the subject of many articles and cartoons in the Australian press, received good coverage in the US, and was the subject of a 45 minute segment on NBC's Dateline.
Robert Bogucki survived nearly 40 days on faith and the food and water he managed to gather from the desert.
September, 1999 (Disaster Response)- U.S. - Hurricane Floyd.
Hurricane Floyd was a Category 4 storm expected to make landfall around the South Carolina/Georgia border around September 16th, 2002. The North Carolina Emergency Operations Center requested the assistance of 1SRG and arranged to stage in Atlanta, Georgia prior to landfall. 16 members with eight canines arrived on the 15th. 1SRG would assist in disaster response after the hurricane passed through.
On September 19th, the storm was downgraded to a Category 3, minimal damage was expected, and 1SRG was released to return home. Ironically, the storm resulted in some of the worst flooding on the East Coast in decades.
January, 2000 (SAR) - Mexico - Missing Russian/American climbers
on Orizaba.
On January 2nd, 2000, 1SRG was requested to assist in locating three climbers on Pico de Orizaba in Mexico. The trio went missing on December 28th, 1999 and local efforts were unsuccessful so far.
A twelve person team with avalanche certified canines began deploying on the morning of January 3rd. The mission was cancelled during the early stages of deployment after local resources discovered the bodies of the three climbers.
August, 2000 - Mexico (SAR) - Missing American with 15 year old Mexican nephew near Colima.
1SRG was asked to participate in an on-going search for a missing 40 year old American - Randy Jaffee - and his missing 15 year old Mexican nephew - Jorge Contreras - in Nevado de Colima Park.
The two subjects were last seen on August 7th at Bravo Nector, a communications and observation facility near the peak of Nevado de Colima.
At 1600, German Lopez-Larios, a member of Proteccion Civil Jaliso who maintains the base, noticed that the subject's vehicle was still on site and set off to search for the subjects. After three hours of searching, he found what he believed to be a pair of tracks coming down off the peak and then heading to the south, rather than to the north-west which would take them back to the base.
Local search resources conducted operations starting on Monday, August 8th, and continued to work with 1SRG after their arrival. The initial resources consisted of approximately 14 members of Proteccion Civil Jaliso, an unknown number of members of Proteccion Civil Colima, three members of Groupe de Montagna Colima (sp), and various local guides hired by the family. These resources searched all of the likely areas on foot and on ATVs continuously until we arrived.
12 members and three canines conducted search operations for 6 days, working closely with members of the PCC, PCJ, and Mexican Army as well as a variety of volunteer resources, two helicopters, and one fixed wing aircraft. Jorge Contreras was located in good condition on August 14th, the fourth day of the mission. Randy Jaffee was still missing when the search was terminated.
December 30, 2000 (SAR) - Dominican Republic - Missing 85-year-old male.
An 85 year old male with dementia was last seen in the town of Bani. He was last seen at 3AM as he departed to walk to visit his niece. Local residents and elements of the army conducted search operations immediately.
1SRG prepared to deploy a full team. During the deployment the subject was located alive and in good condition and 1SRG stood down.
January 1, 2001 (SAR) - Argentina - Missing 29-year-old male.
A party of five departed for a hike on January 1st. At approximately 1400, the 29 year old male member of the party set out ahead of the rest of the group. He was not seen again and search efforts commenced at dawn the next day. Local resources - civilians, police, military and the local mountaineering club - participated in the effort.
1SRG formed a full team, received confirmation from the U.S. Embassy and prepared to deploy. The subject was found just prior to team members departing for the airport.
November 2001 (SAR) - Consultation on SAR in China
An Israeli national attempted to swim across the Yangtse River in the Yunan region of Southern China on the morning of Friday, November 2nd. He failed to exit the water and was swept into a very deep and nearly inaccessible canyon.
1SRG was consulted and asked to stand by. For several days, we identified possible remotely piloted aviation resources appropriate for searching the canyon and prepared logistical plans for deploying them to assist local military units searching the area.
August 2002 (SAR) - Peru - Missing U.S. and Peruvian couple trekking near Huayllapa.
1SRG deployed a four person overhead team at the request of the family of the missing American, and with the cooperation of the U.S. Embassy and the USAM, the military rescue unit conducting the search. The team's goal was to conduct investigations to assist the USAM and determine if there was an appropriate search area for deploying a larger team.
Five days of operations suggested that the couple was last seen in Cajatambo during an independence day celebration and they probably departed in the company of unknown individuals at the end of the celebration. Operations were cut short by issues that compromised the security of the team and the USAM officers working with them.
Two days later, the bodies of the couple were found by local civilian resources.
December 2003 (SAR) - Rio Bravo, Mexico - Missing U.S. citizen, residing in Mexico. Vanished from his home during the night under possibly suspicious circumstances. 1SRG was requested to respond and started deploying. Circumstances changed on scene and the mission was cancelled.
January 2003 (SAR) - Cabo San Lucas, Mexico - Missing Canadian citizen, residing in Mexico. Put on standby and acted in advisory role for family and local resources.
February 2004 (SAR) - Florida - Consultation with family of three people who went missing aboard the "What's Left". Boat washed ashore, subjects never found.
August 2004 (SAR) - Iran - Consultation and pre-deployment planning for Kathleen Namphy, missing during a hike in Iran. Subject found and recovered by local resources.
August 2004 (SAR) - Utah - Consultation and on scene review with family of Garrett Bardsley, missing 13 year old in Summit County. Link to the family's web site.
September 2004 - present (SAR) - China - Missing American student. Advisory and research role. Subject still missing. Link to family web site.
December 2004 (SAR) - Nicarauga - Missing Briton Nicholas Roth and American Jordan Alexander Ressler. Prepared to deploy, subjects found by other resources.
December 2004 (SAR) - Peru - Request to deploy to search for Nicholas Royer.
February 2005 (SAR) - France - Consultation and research for the family of Blake Hartley who went missing in France. Subject still missing. Link to the family's web site.
May 2005 (SAR) - Vancouver, Canada - David Koch missing on Grouse Mountain. Family requested assistance. Advised family that local resources were providing excellent service.
August 2005 (SAR) - Nepal - Trevor Stokol, missing during hike near base camp at Everest. Provided logistical support and consultation. Link to 1SRG web site.
May 2006 (SAR) - Laos - Ryan Chicovsky, missing while traveling in Laos. Consultation and request to deploy.
October 2006 (SAR) - India - Climbers missing on Mt. Tengabang. Consultation, declined request to deploy.
December 2006 (SAR) - China - Climbers missing in China. Consultation, family support.
June 2007 (SAR) - Syria - Missing trekker in Syria. Consultation, family support.
December 2007 (SAR) - Panama - Small plane down in Panama. Consultation, family support.
December 2007 (SAR) - Chile - Missing hiker in Chile. Consultation, coordination with international resources, family support.
November 2008 (SAR) - Mexico - Missing American in Baja, Mexico. Consultation, family support, deployment cancelled after subject located.
April 2009 (SAR) - Nambia - Missing American student in Nambia. Consultation, family support.
