Official Search for Leanne Hecht Bearden
Garden Ridge, Texas, Police Chief Donna OConnor
QUESTIONS & ANSWERS:
Greg Pyles: My name is Greg Pyles. Im the CEO of TEXSAR, Texas Search and Rescue. We were contacted earlier this week by Garden Ridge Police Department. Chief OConnor asked us to come in and work with them on this case. We evaluated the details and put together a massive search operation today with our law enforcement partners from the county, the state, and some federal resources. The Department of Public Safety, the Texas Rangers, the US Secret Service, the Federal Bureau of Investigation there are a number of agencies involved. Search personnel came from Dallas Fort Worth area, from the Houston area, Galveston, and south Texas to participate in the search. We have some excellent personnel. All personnel in the field are certified in ground search and rescue plus many other disciplines. All the K-9s that we have deployed today are certified canines under the NISAR standards. We are very pleased to be able to assist Chief OConnor and very pleased to be here. Texas Search & Rescue is a state resource available to all of our law enforcement partners throughout the state.
Male Reporter: How big of a radius are we looking today?
Greg Pyles: The radius extends
I can answer you in square miles, roughly 23 square miles that were searching today. Its a huge search area.
Female Reporter: Well, how did you sort of determine... I mean, I know theres an idea of the direction she went where she might have been, how did you determine that overall?
Greg Pyles: Good question. Texas Search & Rescue is fortunate to have search planners that are trained by our U.S. Air Force
.and the US Coast Guard Inland Search & Rescue School. In their training they learn some details missing and lost person behavior characteristics. We also use a database of about 60 years worth of history in missing persons cases and lost persons cases so we can take and correlate the details of this case to past cases and those cases help guide us in determining where the most probable areas are for this person.
Male Reporter: The physical search itself is it going
Im trying to figure out get a sense is it going to be people walking on the ground is it going to be people on horseback, on motorcycles? What are we talking about?
Greg Pyles: It will be all of those things, yes, sir, and there will also be air resources.
Female Reporter: So people on foot, people on horseback, people in vehicles
Greg Pyles: ATVs, yes.
Female Reporter: Okay. And, choppers?
Greg Pyles: Yes, maam, theres
at present there is one helicopter assigned by the Department of Public Safety to this effort.
Male Reporter: And, canines?
Greg Pyles: Canines -- I believe we have 12 canine teams deployed today, which is a lot of canines, and theyre all good. Weve worked with all of them before. Theyre very good dogs
Male Reporter: At this point, you guys are looking at recovery not rescue, is that correct?
Greg Pyles: I cant speak to that, sir, that would be up to the Chief.
Male Reporter: With the canines, Im not completely familiar with the canines, because this is 8 days later, does that make a difference with the canines?
Greg Pyles: It does, sure. Its a mix of disciplines.
Male Reporter: What does that mean? Im sorry
Greg Pyles: A mix of different certifications for the dogs.
Male Reporter: So its both searching and
is it I hate to be morbid but is it cadaver dogs?
Greg Pyles: There are human remains dogs as well as live finding air scent dogs deployed today.
Male Reporter: And they can
they can catch a scent 8 days later?
Greg Pyles: They certainly can.
Male Reporter: Thats pretty amazing.
Greg Pyles: Yes, sir.
Female Reporter: You mentioned that when the police chief from Garden Ridge contacted you earlier this week, uh
that, you know, you looked at the case, you evaluated the details. What made you decide that this is a case that
where you guys could be of help? Why come here now?
Greg Pyles: Our resources are available to law enforcement when their own resources have been exceeded. We often are asked by DPS, the Texas Department of Emergency Management, or local jurisdictions to assist them as a force multiplier and a trained resource in these cases.
Male Reporter: Im sorry, I dont know if I caught it earlier, can you tell me how many people are involved with todays search?
Greg Pyles: There are a little over 100 certified folks in the field today.
Male Reporter: 100 folks, 12 dogs? Okay.
Greg Pyles: Yes.
Female Reporter: And does that include the folks from the Texas State Guard and Search and Rescue plus the folks from the other DPS, FBI or are they separate?
Greg Pyles: The law enforcement folks are not included in that count. The Texas military forces that we train and work with on a very regular basis are included in that count. Theyre a very valuable partner.
Female Reporter: Do you know a total if you were to include law enforcement how many folks you have up here today?
Greg Pyles: It would only be a guess, maam. Im guessing around 145.
Female Reporter: Okay.
Male Reporter: I know a lot of the area up here is privately owned property. How does your agency work with private property owners here in this area?
Greg Pyles: A lot of the law enforcement personnel involved today is assisting the teams in the field to obtain those land owners consent to search. Additionally, the county Sheriffs Office requested last night the reverse 911 call for the areas affected. Thats been very effective in obtaining consent to search.
Male Reporter: How does that work? Can you sort of explain how that reverse 911 works?
Greg Pyles: The Reverse 911 message lets the landowner know that a search is going to take place. It gives them the details of the search and it asks for their cooperation. It also gives them a number that they can call.
Female Reporter: And that went out last night?
Greg Pyles: It went out last night. Yes, maam.
Male Reporter: Is that also beneficial to get the word out maybe theres somebody who doesnt know that this woman is missing?
Greg Pyles: Absolutely! Yes, sir, you bet, and you folks are important in this effort as well. Any word out about a missing person is worthwhile.
Male Reporter: And is there, with the search you said its about 23 miles? Is there an epicenter like at the beginning and then a circle, or is it a grid search, sort of
explain how that works?
Greg Pyles: I think I mentioned earlier that our folks are trained in lost person behavior, so you take the point last seen, the last known point where we can factually say this person was and then you apply that behavior on the terrain, the country around it to determine your search area.
Male Reporter: And what was that last point?
Greg Pyles: It was very near here. It was very near her home.
Male Reporter: Near her
on her street?
Greg Pyles: Yes.
Male Reporter: in her neighborhood?
Greg Pyles: Yes, sir.
Male Reporter: Okay. And do you know who, who was the last person to see her? Was it a verifiable source?
Greg Pyles: Uh
thats going to be up to law enforcement to answer that question.
Male Reporter: Okay.
Female Reporter: And real quick, the 23 miles, 23 square mile area, is it north where she was last
can you give us the direction?
Greg Pyles: It extends in all directions, some directions further than others.
Male Reporter: Its not like a circle where theres a point at the middle and you go from
?
Greg Pyles: No.
Female Reporter: Its beyond the boundaries of Garden Ridge.
Greg Pyles: Thats correct. Yes, Maam.
Male Reporter: What are some of the key challenges you guys think you
anticipate you may face with a search like this?
Greg Pyles: Weather is a challenge today. Terrain is a challenge. The terrain is rough. Theres a lot of elevation. Its slow going.
Male Reporter: We had some pretty freezing weather Thursday night, Friday, even some last night. Give us a sense does that help, does that hurt, how does that affect the search?
Greg Pyles: It really doesnt have an impact except for the remaining slick spots for people that are out there on the ground. I mean its slick. They can fall and hurt themselves. Weve provided them with the safety measures and equipment to try to mitigate that.
Male Reporter: I hate to be morbid again, if this is, if there is a dead body out there, the freezing weather--would that preserve the body, would that make it go
disintegration go faster, I
Im just trying to get a sense of
Greg Pyles: Uh
I
I cant speak to that.
Female Reporter: Realistically, if shes been out there for the last eight days, do you believe that she could survive if, lets say she was hurt, in these weather conditions?
Greg Pyles: I cant speculate on that. There are certainly cases where people have been found after eight days to be alive. There are cases in these weather conditions.
Audio Link for above:
http://media.ccomrcdn.com/media/sta..._garden_ridge_texas_d_0_1390829805.mp3 
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QUESTIONS/ANSWERS with Police Chief Donna OConnor
Male Reporter: Chief, can you give us a sense about what searches have already been done and how this will be different from what has already been done?
Police Chief Donna OConnor: What I will say to you is that your interpretation of search and my interpretation of search frequently arent the same. Uh
my interpretation of the search is that we search the area for any homes that might have cameras on them, that have footage, we research businesses and our own facility, the tapes, to see if anything shows, any sign of Ms. Hecht as she went for her walk that afternoon. Uh
the family has been massively involved. We have worked together with the Hechts and the Beardens. They have contacted many sources and done private searches. When I say we havent had foot searches our officers on every shift have walked. Understanding that we have a small community that is mostly a bedroom community, and a good majority of our residents are a part of our Citizens Police Academy and have been very active, and neighbors know each other in this community. It is very much a bedroom community where people know each other and talk to each other, and the churches are a source of support for them and they spread the word, so the word has been out there. Our officers walk every shift, weve walked every creek. I dont think at this point that within our small six, little over six square miles of Garden Ridge, that there is anywhere where someone hasnt walked.
Male Reporter: There was just some confusion with people saying, Why, why are you doing this eight days later, why wasnt this done on Day 1?
Police Chief Donna OConnor: Well, I can tell you that on Day 1 our officers were walking and meeting with neighbors. On Day 2 Comal County Sheriffs Office provided us their canines and we did a search. On Day 3, we continued to follow up every lead that came in. When were talking about this week, we would have probably pulled this together by Wednesday, but we knew the weather events that were going to go on Thursday and Friday and we did not think it was practical to try. We would not have had the success that I think we will have today having better weather.
Male Reporter: Thank you, Chief.
Audio Link for above:
http://media.ccomrcdn.com/media/sta...ault/leanne_bearden:_missing_0_1390830228.mp3
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