LORTON, Va. — Two Fairfax County Police command vehicles sit in front of the visitors center for Mason Neck State Park. As generators on the two trucks roar, Lt. Rich Theal briefs a search team on their mission.
A mother and her two sons, ages 14 and 11 go missing while hiking in the park. When they don’t return, the children’s father sets out into the woods during the late night hours, only to find himself lost.
This is a very plausible scenario, but in fact the four people missing are not actually lost, they are experienced hikers playing the role of the missing family. It is part of a practice mission hosted by the Fairfax County Police Department.
“The ground searchers can practice their navigation skills,” said Lieutenant James Krause with the Fairfax County Police Search and Rescue team. Krause said it’s also a chance for officers in the command post to practice their skills and become better planners during real life search and rescue operations.
During this regional search, officers from several agencies including Loudoun County, Prince William County and Montgomery County, Maryland, along with independent search organizations, went through the paces as if this were a real event.
Items have been placed throughout the park as clues, and the hikers who are playing the role of the missing sit tight, waiting to be found. Information such as photos, cell phone pings and help from other jurisdictions will stream in slowly, as it would during a real search.
After retiring from the Alexandria Fire Department, David Thorne decided to become certified in K-9 searches with his two year old Rottweiler Neeko. He received his certification in August, and now Thorne and Neeko are taking part in the search as they work to hone their skills.
The excited pooch works only for his favorite toy, tennis balls. As for Thorne, he said he is life long volunteer who wants to help others.
“You want closure for the family and it is a reward for the live, the live find is the ultimate,” Thorne said.
Searchers on horse also mounted up and hit the brush in the exercise.
The hope is that the training mission will bring better preparedness when dispatchers receive a call.
