Searching for Folks – and their boats

Don Minchew wants you.

If you own a boat, have knowledge of Lake Wimico or St. Joseph Bay, Minchew would like to enlist you in the ranks of one of the finest volunteer organizations in the county.

When there is a search to be made, an individual gone missing, the call goes out to Gulf County Search and Rescue.

Once known strictly as Wewa Search and Rescue, due to county funding cuts that all but eliminated the South Gulf County Search and Rescue team, the hundreds of volunteers who comprised Wewa Search and Rescue now proudly represent the entire county.

“Now we are covering the entire county,” Minchew said.

In truth, the entire 14^th Judicial Circuit and beyond, as Minchew is the search and rescue coordinator for the circuit and the reputation around the region of the team he leads has become a symbol of pride.

“Over the past several years we have had 39 drowning victims on which we have worked the search,” Minchew said. “We have never come back without a body, never have failed to provide a family closure.”

Not that all of the cases these folks work on – and they come out in droves when called, a stunning sight for the unfamiliar – turn out badly.

Take the recent case of missing Baby Shannon in Chipley.

Gulf County Search and Rescue had 105 volunteers assisting in various rotations and were instrumental in not only finding the baby safe, but also determining early on in the investigation that in some way the mother, who it turned out had given the baby away, was involved.

They have worked search and rescue missions in Walton County, Bay County, Calhoun County, Alabama and other spots on the map.

When Minchew sounds the alarm, the volunteers, not making one dime and devoting their own time, in some cases forfeiting paid hours at work, arrive and listen.

To say that Minchew has mastered the leadership of a search is to assert that Frank Sinatra had blue eyes and a nice voice.

The man just knows what he is doing, and his team understands what they need to do to accomplish the mission, as the folks working the Baby Shannon case from the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, the Washington County Sheriff’s Office and other law enforcement agencies would freely acknowledge.

As Minchew described the scene in Chipley, local and state law enforcement officials quickly understood that a positive ending would be the result of just staying out of the way of the folks from Gulf County Search and Rescue, let them do their thing and assist where asked.

Having observed first-hand their work on several local drownings incidents, these are men and women of varied backgrounds who simply care.

They will stay at it until a resolution, closure, is possible. They will wrap the families of victims in a protective blanket of humanity and serve at their beck and call, be it a hot meal, hot coffee or just a shoulder to lean and cry on.

There are few outfits like it, not in my experience and they are certainly unique in not only Gulf County, but North Florida.

They are, simply, the best.

And now they hope to expand their base of volunteers and their expertise.

Minchew recalled a not-too-distant incident in which a catamaran had capsized in St. Joseph Bay, buffeted by five-foot swells.

That is a much different environment than the rivers, even at their most rising and raging, and Minchew noted that it would have helped immensely to have on hand folks who were better acquainted, had more expertise with such bodies of water.

So Minchew is seeking any and all volunteers who have familiarity with the bodies of water on the south end of the county to meld with his crew that knows so well the waters of the north end of the county to create, if this is possible, an even more effective search and rescue outfit.

“We are looking for people who know Lake Wimico, who know the bay and have boats that can navigate these waters,” Minchew said.

And at the same time want to join what has become an organization from which the county can derive such pride.

Minchew has held two meetings at the county Emergency Operations Center this month to enlist any volunteers and will continue the campaign in January.

Meeting dates and times will be announced in this newspaper and on www.starfl.com.

Anybody wishing to join and desiring more information can contact Minchew at 814-3180.

Consider it this way – at a time of so much need, here is an outfit that meets a unique and valued need in the community.

Could there be a better way to demonstrate the holiday spirit than becoming a member of this incredible, hard-working and helpful community organization that seems called to this dangerous, sometimes horrific and difficult work?

The answer is self-evident. Give Minchew a call. Attend a January meeting. The community assigns its thanks in advance.