First off, thank you for starting this thread. I know so many people had questions about Tim pulling out of Orlando. Many felt he was given a donation to come to NC to search for Mouy Tang. He did come with his team to search a town not to far from me & he had a 2nd team searching for someone else in another part of the state. At my search he was meeting with yet a 3rd family in NC. On his way home from NC he got a call regarding a missing man in TX.........they drove straight thru from NC to TX to be there as fast as they could.
When Tim left Orlando, he did have a group there to still search, not just for Caylee but others as well. When he left NC he had arranged for another group from SC, S.T.A.R.R. searchteam to come in & keep searching. The group from has done many searches for Ms. Tang. I went on a search with STARR this weekend for her. There were also TES members from FL & GA. Between LE, TES & STARR, no stone has been left un turned. Just like in Caylee, ATV's, horses, line searches, searches in woods, burnt out meth labs, crack squats, some pretty darn awesome K9 dogs have been used. Have we found anything, no. All we can do is say we know where she isnt but not where she is. My point is, the media may say TES pulled out but that isnt the entire truth. Tim & his core from TX can only stay on scene for so long & it is not cost effective to do so. It is more cost effective for Tim to get things going, use all his wonderful resources, gather as much info as he can, as many resources as he can, search all he can & then make sure he has left the search in the hands of very capable people. Tim, nor TES, EVER gives up, pulls out or gives up hope. They make sure they have kept the family informed & the family knows who is going to continue the search. Chances are before he has his folks loaded he has already gotten several calls from several other families. Tim nor TES is involved in just one search at a time, they have several on going at one time.
Searches cost money. Tim has been raked over the coals about the motor coach. Ah, it was donated. He is not traveling in style on anyone's dime.
It serves as a moblie command center as well. It offers a place for him to meet with family members away from everyone else. It offers a place to map out the search, create maps etc. NO ONE at TES, including Tim is paid. They really do all have regular jobs. Some might own their own company so they are able to go on more searches, some take vacation time. There is gas, food, hotels, equipment to rent, equipment to buy when you cant get it donated. TES never charges anyone for their service. The STARR team I worked with this weekend does it the same way. All volunteers, from LE, to fire fighters to K9 trainers. It was 5 degrees when we began our search. Thank God they had the donations to go buy small propane heaters to warm our hands. Thank God for the family members who came out in the cold & cooked lunch for us over a grill in the cold.
Everyone is so so strapped for cash. All of us. The folks who run TES & organizations like it & their volunteers are no different. We are working harder to pool our resources like equipment. We are a team, even when it's a bunch of folks from a bunch of other search groups, we come together for a common good. We share everything & anything we have with each other. If we had 30 searchers & one member had a bottle of water, that bottle being the last, that member would make sure everyone got a drop of it. That's the way we are.
To make TES & other volunteer groups be able to do what they do, yes, we need money & lots of it. We need every dime we can get & are never to proud to count single dollar bills. And we are grateful for every single penny. We also need heart & that's what each of us can give. It's the heart that enables us to get up & search in any weather, thru woods, marsh, swamp & any where else we think there is a chance. If you can donate, please do, & take a moment to draw a heart on that donation.
Thank you for reading thru this, God Bless all of you who have done so much. Let's help make TES strong so they will be there if any of us ever need them.
:blowkiss:
