Mounted search and rescue

[Kevin Stokes <klstokes@qwest.net>]

 I worked on this search for a few days, so I can comment a bit.  While 
there is one main river, the search area is laced with streams, creeks, 
seeps (and any other term you would like) that feed into the river along 
with drain tiles from the fields.  At the time of young Mr Swanson's 
disappearance, the area was quite wet.  As it turns out that river was 
searched well over fifty times early on.
 There is no main wind direction in this area - it can blow any 
direction on any day.  I acted as a support person for dog teams while I 
was there, and we noticed the wind changing direction throughout the 
day.  Occasionally we had to change our strategy in the middle of the 
search segment.
 As for plowing the subject in, it seems the non-farmers don't think it 
is possible, while farmers say it could happen.  I'm a city boy, so its 
tough for me to picture that.  But in the long days in the planting rush 
I can see fatigue and lighting conditions being a factor.
 The cell tower idea is a good one.  I believe they checked that early 
on, but I don't know any details.
 The search has been frustrating for me - I can't imaging how much so 
for Jeff and so many others who have been much more involved than me.
Kevin Stokes