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Rescue squad recounts exhaustive volunteer search in Ashe County; effort paused, sheriff to continue investigation
Summary
Ice County Rescue Squad coordinator Robert Poe told commissioners the volunteer search for a missing 63-year-old covered 689 acres and logged 1,739.3 hours; volunteers used drones, dogs and water teams and have suspended their organized search while the sheriff's office continues the investigation.
Robert Poe, coordinator for the Ice County Rescue Squad, gave Ashe County commissioners a detailed account of a recent missing‑person search, describing a multiagency volunteer effort that he said logged 1,739.3 volunteer hours and covered 689 acres before the organized volunteer search was suspended and the sheriff's office took lead on the investigation.
"We used search teams. We use drones with thermal capability. We use drones with spotlights and dog teams," Poe said, listing tools and tactics used during the response. He described operational periods that ran from 7 a.m. to 1 a.m. on some days and said teams recorded 11.45 hours of thermal drone flight time.
Poe gave a numeric breakdown of the operation: 689 acres searched, 53.79 miles by side‑by‑sides, 484.88 miles on foot by grid search, and 32.31 miles covered by canine teams. He estimated the labor value of the volunteer hours at about $27,828.80 had those hours been paid at $16 per hour, noting most participants were unpaid volunteers.
Commissioners praised the volunteer response and discussed formal recognition. Commissioner Wes (Speaker 7) proposed drafting thank‑you letters to mutual‑aid organizations that assisted, saying, "I'd like to get an address for everybody that respond as mutual aid people ... so we can't draft a thank you letter from this county to those organizations." The board agreed to prepare recognition for external partners.
Poe said the organized volunteer effort has been suspended and that credible leads now rest with the sheriff's department: "We've turned it back over to the sheriff's department. They're gonna continue whatever they do." He invited commissioners and staff to contact him for additional information.
Next steps: no formal action was taken to reconstitute volunteer search operations; the sheriff's office will continue investigative work and the board directed staff to coordinate appreciation for mutual‑aid organizations.
