First responders can never predict exactly how a disaster will occur.
They won’t know if a search for a missing person will occur today, tomorrow, next week or next year. They might get a few days notice of a weather event. But the one thing they can do is prepare.
“It takes a village,” Elmore County EMA director Keith Barnett said. “Whether it's a missing person or another major incident, that is the way it is supposed to work.”
Elmore County first responders’ training was put to the test last Monday as a man was reported missing from an area around Claud-Fleahop Road. The man was known to frequently travel from there towards Tallassee. The Eclectic Police Department was first notified at 9:30 a.m. July 21 about a man being missing almost 20 hours.
Submitted / TPI The missing man reported last week along Claud-Fleahop Road with reports he could be between there and Tallassee brought out many resources from Elmore County including EMA, fire departments and law enforcement.
“A 78-year-old male with dementia had last been seen around 2 p.m. Sunday on foot in the area of East Patton Street and Little Road in Tallassee and had failed to return home overnight,” Eclectic fire chief Josh Dorminey said.
The location was just in the Electric Police Department jurisdiction. Dorminey and Eclectic police chief Robert Head quickly went to work looking for help.
“I called EMA and told them we had a missing person,” Dorminey said. “EMA was listening and was ahead of the game. EMA dramatically helps with the decision making and they make the phone calls where we can focus on other things.”
Within 30 minutes more than 10 agencies were responding to the area to aid in the search. They were the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency’s Aviation Unit with a helicopter; two canine search teams from Red Mountain Search Dog Association and the Alabama Department of Corrections K9 tracking unit; City of Tallassee fire and police departments; the Elmore County Sheriff's Office; search and rescue expert from the Prattville Fire Department; and Haynes Ambulance.
Barnett and EMA were able to get drone pilots on the scene quickly.
Dorminey and the fire department were quick to get a notice on social media about the search asking residents for information and to check footage from security cameras.
It didn’t take long before word got back to authorities of a sighting. Dorminey and others were preparing for a wilderness rescue.
“We got an update that he was seen between Tallasee and Kent the night before,” Dorminey said. “That turned into more of an urban search and rescue. It changed the search. We cancelled some people and realized boots on the ground were not going to do us any good. We needed vehicles and a helicopter.”
At the same time Tallassee police officers knew the gentleman and some of the places he frequented. The Tallassee Police Department started searching along roads and streets from their direction.
“In this case they had pretty decent information that he was headed our direction,” Tallassee police chief Todd Buce said. “We physically didn’t have to go all the way out there. We started looking at the places that he frequented in Tallassee and that is where we came up with him.”
The missing man was found about 20 hours after family noticed him missing. He was out in the heat and humidity on foot.
“This outcome is unfortunately not normal,” Dorminey said. “You don’t find someone missing after 24 hours like that and in the condition we found him. He was in relatively great condition and he didn’t want to go to the hospital. The missing man was found before all the work could be completed for a Silver Alert, a statewide notice to be on the look out for him.
“We were prepared for all outcomes and the best possible one just happened. I credit that to we had so many agencies come together for one goal. Without that we don't know what the outcome would be.”
Part of the key to the successful outcome is the agencies already having mutual aid agreements and memorandums of understanding.
“Fortunately we are blessed to have a lot of agencies and departments that all work well together,” Barnett said. “We communicate well. We all understand and know each other's strengths and weaknesses. We know what our specialities are.”
Knowledge and communication has helped in the past. Sometimes it is recovering drowning victims on Lake Jordan, Lake Martin and the Coosa and Tallapoosa rivers.
It helps in the response to tornadoes such as the 2019 tornado that ripped through Wetumpka or those that damaged homes 2022, 2023 and 2024.
But cooperation comes into play more often than many expect.
“We do it on a smaller scale with fire,” Dorminey said. “If any of our mutual partners get a house fire — Eclectic, Tallassee, Red Hill, Friendship, if we get one, we are all going to go. For larger events you have more mutual aid partners that come in.”
