Team Eglin aids in search for missing man

  • Published
  • By Tech. Sgt. Brian Jones
  • 96th Air Base Wing Public Affairs
EGLIN AIR FORCE BASE, Fla. --  As the effort to locate an 83-year-old man with Alzheimer's who went missing from the Crystal Bay Senior Living community in Sandestin July 3 carried into a second day, a call from the Walton County Sheriff's Department went out to Team Eglin for 40 volunteers to help in the search. Nearly double that number boarded two buses headed for the search area Sunday morning to team with members of Florida's Departments of Agriculture and Forestry. 

"Team Eglin are very proud members of this community and when the call comes in for assistance, we'll always do what we can to support," said Chief Master Sgt. Troy Engholm, Command Chief, Air Armament Center and 96th Air Base Wing. "To have this many people show up on short notice on a Sunday morning speaks volumes to our Airmen's commitment to our neighbors." 

As Eglin volunteers gathered to look at maps of the search area and plan a strategy, Mr. Fred Ewing, Senior Vice President of the Florida Division of Brookdale Senior Living, addressed the group. 

"We're so very appreciative. Thank you for taking your Sunday morning to help us ... ," he said. "If there's anything you ever need from us, just give us a call." 

Seventy-nine Airmen split into two search teams accompanied by 96th Security Forces Squadron members on all-terrain vehicles to comb a heavily-wooded, one-mile by one-mile area near where the gentleman went missing. 

"If it were my grandpa, I'd want someone out looking for him," said Master Sgt. David Meacham, 96th Mission Support Squadron first sergeant. 

Although the missing man was not located, the efforts of Team Eglin ruled out a large amount of wooded land allowing searchers to focus on other areas. Staff Sergeant Quanza Knight from the 96th Logistics Readiness Squadron summed up her motivation for the search very simply. 

"It's just the right thing to do," she said.