Nicolet Search Team Incidents Report

JUNE 1999	MISSING BOY SCOUT	STATUS: FOUND ALIVE
June 17, 1997. An 11 year old Boy Scout does not show up for dinner with his dad or Troop. So begins the first major search in Oconto County in years. SAR units from all over Wisconsin and neighboring states end up at Bear Paw Scout Camp. He was located on Wednesday afternoon after being out in the forest since Monday evening. He was 1.2 miles from the PLS and had been missing for 47 hours before he was found. He claimed he was out looking for frogs. Hundreds of volunteers, search dogs, scuba divers and helicopters were used in searching the heavily wooded area. Adding to the problems were that the Camp is 320 in size and surround by the Nicolet National Forest. He had lots of skin abrasions and was covered in ticks, but his only request was for a soda pop and pizza.

JULY 1999

LOST FISHERMAN

STATUS: FOUND ALIVE

A 65 year old man from Somers, Wisconsin, became lost while fishing a creek East of County T in the Township of Doty on Tuesday, July 20th. Last seen at 5:30 that afternoon by his son, he was headed downstream towards another fishing hole when he became disorientated in the thick undergrowth and lost his way. When the son failed to locate his father by 10:00pm, he notified the Oconto County Sheriff's Department and a search effort was initiated.

With a quick search of the surrounding area and patrol of the roads in the area failed to locate the subject, the Sheriff's Department called in the Departments K-9 Units along with members of the Nicolet Search Team and the Wolf River Rescue Team from Langlade County to help in locating the subject.

Containment Teams were immediately placed all around the search area in case the lost fisherman walked out on his own. Family and friends were contacted along with the motel at which he was staying, in the event he got a ride out of the area and was able to make phone calls.

A sweep of the area by a K-9 Unit failed to locate the subject and due to the man's poor physical condition, Incident Command decided to send in Hasty Search Teams to sweep the stream. Search Teams were hampered by the extreme darkness, constant downpours, knee-deep mud and swampy conditions, often becoming mired down in the mud and requiring assistance to get out.

At 2:55am, members of the Oconto County Sheriff's Department, on containment patrol along the southeast border of the search area found the subject, wet, tired and dehydrated. He had traveled approximately 1/2 mile from where he was last seen. He was transported by Mountain Ambulance back to the Sheriff's Command Post, were he was checked out and then given his leave to get some much needed sleep and dream about the fish that got away.

NOVEMBER 2000

LOST HUNTER

STATUS: FOUND ALIVE

The Nicolet Search Team were called out on Sunday November 19th, for a deer hunter who had been missing for 24 hours. The search area was located in a dense swampy area to the south of Highway 64 in the Peshtigo Brook area. With snow falling, a sound search / sweep of the PLS was conducted and all possible clues marked and charted.

The search was called off at dark because of the cold and exhaustion of the hasty search teams. Search was scheduled to commence the following morning at 7:30am.

Meeting with a large group of volunteers at the Brazeau Rescue Station, a short briefing was held, instructions laid out and explained, with the IC to set up operations near the PLS. Operations commenced at 8:30am but the hunter fooled everyone by walking out himself at 8:40am, attracted to the sounds of car doors.

It was found that he had slept in a tree on Monday night about .4 of a mile from Sunday's IC location. He had no indications of any cold injuries.

APRIL 2002

MISSING PERSON

STATUS: FOUND DECEASED

Missing Person
Search - Michiganee Forest

The Nicolet Search Team was called out on Monday, April 29, to assist the Oconto County Sheriff's Department on a search for a missing female in the Town of Abrams. The subject was missing for several days and it was presumed that her intent was to cause harm to herself. Her car had been found by deputies on Friday morning and so the search began using the car as a center point of a circle sweep of the area.

The area was thick with tag elders and because of the wet spring, searchers found themselves wading through water up to 2 feet deep. After several hours of road sweeping, deputies suggested searching a different area.

The search area was then moved abut 1 mile from the original search area. Doing a line sweep of the road, our members found the young lady within 10 minutes. Although the outcome was different than most searches we have completed, this one is still classified as a success for our Team.

JUNE 2003	MISSING PERSON	STATUS: NOT FOUND
The Nicolet Search Team was called in late June to assist with a missing person case in Sawyer County. Andrew Bliss, age 23 was missing from New York and his vehicle had been found on Federal Forest Road 162 in the Town of Draper on June 20, 2003. Working with members of the Sawyer County Sherrifs Department, Saywer County Search and Rescue, Fire and Rescue Personnel and Headwaters Search and Rescue, searching was conducted, but there were little clues to go on.

NOVEMBER 2003	LOST HUNTER	STATUS: FOUND ALIVE
The Nicolet Search Team was called out on Thursday, November 27th (Thanksgiving Day), to assist the Oconto County Sheriff's Department on a search for a missing hunter in the town of Lakewood. The Subject was missing for approximately 5 hours. The search continued through the wee hours of the morning. Additional Resources of the Headwaters Search & Rescue Team were called in with their K-9 team. The search was called off at 2:30am until day light (approx. 6am) Just as the Nicolet Search Team was packing up their equipment, a dog team arrived from HSAR. The dog team set out and the missing hunter was found at approximately 3:20am. Yet another success for our team during the holiday season.

DECEMBER 2003

LOST FEMALE (ALZHEIMER'S)

STATUS: FOUND DECEASED

The Nicolet Search Team was contacted to assist in the search of a missing 81 year old female who was diagnosed with Alzheimer's. At the personal request of the missing woman's daughter, member Andy Anderson met with the Wabeno Police Department on Tuesday, December 2, 2003 to discuss with him the incident. At his request, we decided on a recovery search to be conducted on Saturday December 6, 2003. The Nicolet Search Team had 6 of its members, along with 6 members from Headwaters Search & Rescue (4 K-9 units), 6 members from the Wabeno Fire Department and 1neighbor volunteer, for a total of 19 people. Search began at 0800 and concluded at 1600 for a total of 8 hours or 152 man hours. Unfortunately this search was unsuccessful for Search members, but was a great learning experience.

Update: This person was recovered almost a year later. Her remains were found by a land owner who refused searcher entry onto his property and was in the general search area.

SEPTEMBER 2004	LOST FEMALE (ALZHEIMER'S)		STATUS: FOUND DECEASED
		The Nicolet Search Team was called out to assist in the recovery of a missing 78 year old female who was diagnosed with Alzheimer's. The search took place in Marquette County in the Upper Peninsula. A previous search was conducted when she was first missing by the local Sheriff's Department, and Headwaters Search & Rescue Team. HSAR (Headwaters Search & Rescue) contacted our team to assist in a recovery search along with People & Paws Search Team. Search Team members spent a full Saturday and Sunday conducting the recovery search. Unfortunately this search was not a successful one, all Search Teams learned a great deal from each other during this search. HSAR is planning on conducting another recovery search with other Search Teams in the area sometime late October 2004.

SEPTEMBER 2004	LOST CHILD	STATUS: FOUND ALIVE
The Nicolet Search Team was called out on Tuesday, September 21st, to assist the Oconto County Sheriff's Department and Wisconsin State Patrol in the search for a missing 2 year old boy. The boy was missing for approximately 7 hours traveling a total distance of 2 mi. (1/2 mi straight line from place last seen) The boy and his 7mo. old yellow lab were noticed missing and the search team was called in. In this boy's long journey he managed to loose both of his shoes and diaper. When located, was found wearing nothing but his blue long sleeve shirt.

OCTOBER 2004	MISSING FISHERMAN	STATUS: FOUND DECEASED
The Nicolet Search Team was called out on Saturday, the 9th, to assist the Marinette County Sheriff's Department on a search for a missing fisherman near Pembine. It was believed that the fisherman had been missing for nearly two weeks before a member of Headwaters Search & Rescue Team located the individual along a nearby stream. He had apparently died of complications related to medical problems according to the Sheriff's Department. 4 members of our Team were able to assist.

OCTOBER 2004	MISSING COLLEGE STUDENT	STATUS: NOT FOUND
	The Nicolet Search Team was asked to assist with a missing college student in the eastern edge Boundary Waters Canoe Area in Lake County in Minnesota. 1 member was able to respond and assisted with members of Headwaters Search and Rescue Team. This is still an open case.

JANUARY 2005	MISSING PERSON	STATUS: FOUND DECEASED
The Nicolet Search Team was asked to help out with a planned search on Saturday, the 8th, to assist the Oconto Falls Police Department with a search for a missing person in the City of Oconto Falls. The 18 year old man had been last seen at a New Years Eve party in the city. The search effort for the Team consisted in organizing and providing operations management for all the volunteers expected to show up. There had been mega television coverage leading up to the search and the Police Chief asked us to give him a hand. We sent up command at the Oconto Falls Elementary School and never left the building. There were over 300 volunteers who signed in and out during the day. The Team coordinated and managed the search up until 4:00pm that day. UPDATE: The missing person was located in May, believed to have fallen off one of the bridges over the Oconto River.

OCTOBER 2005	PICTOGLIPH SEARCH		STATUS: TRAINING SESSION
October 2005, found members of the Nicolet Search Team working with the Mountain Historical Society looking for report pictogliphs from earlier times supposedly last located and recorded in the early 1900's.

OCTOBER 17, 2006

MISSING TEENAGER

STATUS: FOUND ALIVE

October 17, 2006, the Nicolet Search Team was asked to assist with the search for missing 14-year-old rural Reedsville boy, who was the subject of an intense, two-day search effort and was eventually found safe in Richland Center, about 180 miles away.

The Team responded with 4 members on Tuesday afternoon to assist with Incident Command and to help provide communications support. On Wednesday, 2 additional members responded to assist with Command and also help provide assistance in the field. Due to the distance involved, many members could not assist but were making plans to be there on Thursday.

One of the Team’s main asset, GPS & map tracking capabilities, were put to the extreme test. We provided all topo and aerial photos for each search assignment that was sent out and was something that was not available through local law enforcement.

Members attending, Andy, Ann, B.J., Jannine, Jodi and Matt

SEPTEMBER 2, 2007	MISSING BERRY PICKER	STATUS: FOUND ALIVE
The Team was called out for a missing elderly berry picker who had been missing for several hours in the Crooked Lake area. The Team responded and put hasty teams into the field. The search concluded several hours later when the person walked out of the woods several miles to the south of the primary search area.

NOVEMBER 20, 2007	MISSING DEER HUNTER	STATUS: FOUND ALIVE
	The Team was called out for a missing deer hunter at about 2015. The person was initially reported missing along Diamond Roof Road in the Town of Townsend. He was a know diabetic and had been last seen about 1330 that same day. The search area ended up being in the Town of Wolf River in Langlade County. Our Team, having no jurisdiction and worked for the Wolf River Fire Department and Troutland Rescue Department in helping locate the missing hunter. Two hasty teams from Nicolet were deployed and were instrumental in locating the gunshots from the missing hunter about 0300 Wednesday morning.

AUGUST 2008	MISSING ELDERLY PERSON	STATUS: FOUND DECEASED
The Nicolet Search Team was called by the Oconto County Sheriffs Department to assist with a missing elderly male in the Oconto Falls area. This person was reported to have Alzheimer's and had been missing for about 4 hours. The family had done a thorough search of the family home due this persons history of wandering. Clothes were found hanging and folded at a nearby slue connected to the Oconto river. Members of many local fire departments, ems departments and law enforcement where asked to assist along with DNR wardens and State Patrol. Headwaters SAR also had resources on scene. A blitz search was immediately conducted by fire and ems along the river and slue, while boats and water rescue personnel search the river and the banks. Tracks had been located about 500 feet from where the clothes had been found and at about 2230, the subject was located about 20 feet from shore in the general location of the foot prints.

MAY 2013	MISSING ELDERLY PERSON	STATUS: NOT FOUND
The Nicolet Search Team was called by the Brown County Sheriffs Department to assist with a missing female in the Pulaski area. This person was reported to be despondant and had been missing for about 2 weeks. On going

JULY 2013	MISSING TEENAGER	STATUS: FOUND ALIVE
The Nicolet Search Team was called by the Oconto County Sheriffs Department to assist with a missing male teenager in the Mountain area. The young man was a part of a youth camp from the Rhinelander area camping out in the Bagley Rapids area. He went out around midnight to use the restroom, but was unable to find his way back in the dark. The Team responded to the area around 2:15 am and the search continued till daybreak when the young man emerged from a camper trailer park in a neighbors yard about 3/4 mile away from the PLS. Members of the Mountain Ambulance, Mountain Fire, Oconto Sheriff, Wisconsin DNR, National Forest Service and Headwaters SAR assisted.

AUGUST 2013	MISSING FISHERMAN	STATUS: FOUND ALIVE
The Nicolet Search Team was called by the Oconto County Sheriffs Department to assist with a missing trout fisherman in the Doty area. He entered the stream area south off of County W near the Menominee Reservation just before dark. The Team received the call out around 1am and responded along with members of Doty Fire, Mountain Ambulance, Oconto Sheriff and Wisconsin DNR. He was located safe just after daybreak 3/4 mile south of the PLS on the reservation.

SEPTEMBER 2014	MISSING ELDERLY PERSON	STATUS: FOUND ALIVE
The Nicolet Search Team was called by the Oconto County Sheriffs Department to assist with a missing elderly male in the Stiles Junction area. He was located safe just after dark 1/4 mile south of the LKP along Highway 141.

NOVEMBER 2014	MISSING ELDERLY PERSON	STATUS: FOUND ALIVE
The Nicolet Search Team was called by the Oconto County Sheriffs Department to assist with a missing elderly male in the Stiles Junction area. He was located safe just after dark 1/4 mile south of the LKP along Highway 141.

	NICOLET SEARCH TEAM, Inc.
	"Always Ready, So That Others May Live"