Mission Report
Mission #06M1423A
August 1, 2006
Missing Person Search
Submitted by Capt. Kim Kirschman

During the morning hours of Tuesday, August 1, I received a call from Col Ralph Tomlinson, Iowa Wing Commander, requesting that I prepare for a missing person search.  A resident Eldora, Iowa, had failed to return from a weekend visit to the Zearing area.  A ground search had been underway for some time.  Col Tomlinson later called to say the mission was a 'go'.  At about 1200 a crew consisting of Lt Don Wood, Lt Tony Short, and Cadet Matthew Kelly, departed the Ankeny airport in 99750, a Cessna 172.  As the missing person had been riding a motorcycle, we were tasked with searching the roadways between Zearing and Eldora with special emphasis on corners and curves.  We began the search as assigned, but were forced by thundershowers to divert to the Iowa Falls airport after we had searched no more than half the likely roads.  While we were on the ground in Iowa Falls waiting for the showers to pass through, a ground team reported finding the rider and motorcycle.  We were then tasked with taking aerial photos on the flight from Iowa Falls to Ankeny.

The motorcycle and rider were found in a late-summer soybean field.  As soybeans at this time are 2-3 feet tall, spotting a person or motorcycle laying on the ground among the soybeans is not a certainty during an aerial search.  This is particularly true for any angle except directly overhead.  Practice, experience, and good luck are helpful factors.

Notes:
1.  Weather can be a factor at any time;
2.  A CAP aircraft from Cedar Rapids was unable to enter the search area because of adverse weather;
3.  Experience has shown that in the case of missing motorcycle riders, probable roadways and the adjacent ditches and fields are high on the list of areas to be searched.  Road corners and curves are at the top of the roadway search list.