Couple helps search for missing people

0 Comments | Oakland Tribune, Mar 9, 2008 | by Meera Pal

Mike Melson has a photo of Gretchen McGeeney sitting on a rock in Big Bear -- a few feet in front of her rests the skeletal remains of her son.

The picture might be disturbing to some, but Melson keeps it on his desk to remind himself why he and his wife Bridget devote their time and resources to helping families search for missing loved ones.

"No mother should have to go through that," he said. "It reminds me of what we do and why."

Since 2005, the Melsons have come to the aid of traumatized families searching for lost relatives. Even though the Pleasanton residents are not professionally trained in search and rescue, they use the resources and skills they do have to help family members achieve closure.

"We passionately feel no one should ever be lost forever," BridgetMelson said.

It was their unwavering pledge for answers that led the Melsons to coordinate a new volunteer search effort in Big Bear in September, more than a year after 21-year-old Landon Orcutt had mailed out suicide notes and gone missing.

Days before the new search -- which had been scheduled weeks in advance -- a hiker and his dog stumbled upon what the coroner later positively identified as Orcutt's skull.

A day after an extensive two-day search effort by the San Bernardino County Sheriff's Office failed to relocate Orcutt's remains, the Melsons set out with McGeeney and her ex-husband.

"We helped bring Landon home," Melson said.

The group found Orcutt's bones 25 yards below the area the sheriff's search team had combed.

"Within an hour of being in the area, Landon's father came across the actual site," McGeeney said from her home in Grand Junction, Colo. "It was amazing the way it happened."

She credits San Bernardino Coroner Dave Van Norman, and the Melsons with eventually finding and bringing her son home.

"If it hadn't been the three of them working in tandem, it wouldn't have happened," McGeeney said.

As a licensed therapist, Bridget Melson, 38, counsels family and friends during search efforts. Mike Melson, 42, a former Silicon Valley executive who now does life coaching, is a licensed pilot with his own plane. He flies over search sites, taking high- resolution aerial photographs.

Working under the name Trinity Search and Recovery, the Melsons coordinate searches, travel arrangements and media inquiries and act as a liaison between families and law enforcement.

And, they do it all out of their own pocket -- or through private donations when they are lucky.

Since Mike Melson first offered his services during a search for Nevada resident Nita Mayo in August 2005, the Melsons have been involved in four cases and numerous searches. Only the search for Orcutt resulted in a recovery.

According to the Department of Justice Web site, on any given day there can be as many as 100,000 active missing persons cases in the United States. Every year, tens of thousands of people vanish under suspicious circumstances.

Search and rescue is a specialized field, with hundreds of teams across the United States, each with its own set of standards.

In California, search and rescue activities fall under county sheriffs, with volunteer team members trained and certified through the California Office of Emergency Services.

Private search groups, such as Trinity, don't go through the same extensive training and certification process as teams recognized by the state. This can sometimes be a source of friction between local officials and private groups.

Chris Boyer, a reserve deputy with the Contra Costa County Sheriff's Department who serves on the county search and rescue team, said most officials do recognize the role these victim advocacy groups play in missing persons cases.

"They assist families who are obviously grieving the loss of a loved one," Boyer said. "There are a lot of positives with the advocacy groups, because they help the family and help keep hope alive."

Things become a little difficult, however, when law enforcement is coordinating a large-scale search with trained and untrained volunteers, especially when dealing with a potential crime scene and the risk of its contamination.

With certification from the state, Boyer said he knows each search and rescue team shares a standard of care.

"It's almost like a degree program," he said. "They know how to grid search, debrief and handle medical issues."

But the Melsons recognize that their role is to assist law enforcement and not get in their way, while also advocating for families.

But long after law enforcement is forced to pack up and go home, the Melsons said, they can continue the search.

"That leaves the family alone, and I thought 'How could I give up?'" Mike Melson said.

Boyer said scaling back a search effort usually depends on several factors, such as the work schedule of volunteers or whether they have exhausted every inch of a field search.

At that point, the ground search stops and moves to the computer or telephone lines for clues and tips.

"No one should ever be lost forever," Boyer said. "It's very personal for all of us, to search for someone and not find them."