BLADENSBURG — A dedicated group of local horse people, organized as Kokosing Valley Mounted Search & Rescue and hailing from Knox, Licking, Morrow and Coshocton counties, was honored to be asked to assist in a Columbus search for missing persons last weekend. They met in Bladensburg on Tuesday evening for an informal debriefing of the event.
Nine riders and their horses joined the renowned Texas searcher Tim Miller of Equus Search in combing the area behind the Franklin County Humane Society building on Roberts Road, an area known by Columbus law enforcement as a “body dump.” While the search was focused on finding OSU medical student Brian Shaffer, missing since April 2006, and Tony Luzlo, missing since July 2005, the group was searching for anything, and anyone, they might find.
“We looked for anything out of the ordinary,” said John Garber of Martinsburg. “Disturbed ground, tracks, anything like that. And we rode right up on what looked to me like two graves.”
The holes were 75 to 80 feet apart in a small clearing, said Garber. The riders radioed back to their trailer’s base radio, manned by Garber’s wife, Crystal Garber, who relayed the news to Miller’s staff, who in turn relayed it to local law enforcement officials.
“They came out on foot and in four-wheelers,” said John Garber, “and roped it off.”
A separate Kokosing Valley Mounted Search & Rescue group was assigned to search land owned by Scioto Downs Racetrack, which, after they arrived, refused them access without a search warrant.
“We unloaded, tacked up and were all ready,” said Hope Ingalls. “But due to liability, they wouldn’t let us stay and search. We were denied access. A deputy talked to them, but they said their legal representatives wouldn’t be available until Monday.”
“They wasted quite a bit of time sitting there,” said John Garber.
Despite the setback, the members of the group are pleased with their search, and happy to have been invited to help. They have undergone much training in CPR, first aid and rappelling, and conduct regular mock searches and rescues, including bringing injured people out of the wilderness on the backs of horses.
Their horses are also well-trained in slogging through the type of overgrown wilderness they searched on Saturday, which the riders referred to as a “jungle.”
“Our horses are trained to go through that stuff,” said Linda Blattner. “There were times I was lying down across my horse with my head down. They go through swampy areas where a four-wheeler would sink, through creeks and briars. You never know what you’re going to come upon. It was my mare’s first time with freight trains [running on nearby tracks], and she handled it beautifully.”
Horses can also hear, see, intuit and pick up scents better than humans. Under some power lines on Saturday, the radio gave the riders some trouble.
“My mare’s ears went back, and she was staring through the thick brush,” said Blattner, explaining that the wall of vegetation was so dense that the riders couldn’t see through it, but the horse had spotted other riders and horses on the opposite side.
The same mare saw the first hole, too.
“She sidestepped,” said Blattner, “and her head went down, so I looked and there it was. That’s the importance of horses ... they can hear and sense things we can’t.”
On Sunday, the riders received word that the holes weren’t graves, after all, but test holes for soil or water sampling.
The riders agreed that Tim Miller is a professional.
“He’s a really nice guy,” said John Garber, “and I have a lot of respect for him.”
“He’s a common, normal, down-to-earth man,” said Crystal Garber, who spent more time with Miller than the others, thanks to manning the base radio. “He told me how much he appreciated our group. He said we’re very organized and that he was pleased with us. He said we’re so professional.”
The riders also met family members of the missing, who came out to help, support and watch the search unfold.
“It made it so much more real when the families came out and talked to us, and shook our hands and thanked us,” said Crystal.
The search over, a planned debriefing at the site with Miller was canceled when a storm rolled in, a tornado warning was announced and everyone loaded up hurriedly and headed back to Knox County.
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