TOVSAR

Top of Virginia Search and Rescue

info@TOVSAR.org

Top of Virginia Search and Rescue Group               Stephen Smith, Captain

a division of North Mountain Fire Company                   540-974-1914

186 Rosenberger Lane                                                   captain@tovsar.org

Winchester , VA   22602

April 28, 2003

(sent to Sheriffs of Clarke, Frederick, Shenandoah and Warren Counties, and Chief of Police of City of Winchester)

Dear Sheriff / Chief:

We are pleased to advise you of our new bloodhound tracking capability to assist missing person searches in Shenandoah County .

Three new teams of hounds and handlers are available as a part of Top of Virginia Search and Rescue Group (TOVSAR). All teams are certified by Virginia Bloodhound Search and Rescue, the recognized regional training institution, and personally trained and certified by Terry Davis, Loudon County Sheriff’s Deputy and President of VBSAR.

One of these teams, Laurie Swain and Dixie , is in Frederick County . The other two teams are in Elkton, in Rockingham County . They are Mike Andrews and Bernie, and Cindy Andrews and Emma. All have been training with Terry Davis for up to seven years. All three handlers are Callout Qualified by TOVSAR and train with us regularly.

We believe that mantrailing bloodhounds are very helpful in the early stages of a search, although these teams regularly train on trails a week or more old and are very effective on such “cold” trails. If you would like to see our bloodhound teams in action, please contact us using the information below. We’ll make sure you’re invited to an upcoming training in your area.

To use these bloodhound teams in a search, you may page us directly at 540-XXX-XXXX (Metrocall alphanumeric pages) or you may contact the Virginia Office of Emergency Management at 1-800-468-8892, and request a bloodhound team from TOVSAR.

When you call for a bloodhound, you will get at least one team (if available), and a trained backup who is a state certified Field Team Member or Field Team Leader. We also have full search management capabilities and additional certified field and incident staff personnel should your search needs require it.

TOVSAR is committed to providing top-quality SAR resources to assist local police authorities to search for missing persons.

Sincerely,

Stephen Smith 

Captain

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