NYS Federation of SAR -
News!
2007
Missing Women Sought by Police
Two women missing
Erie County
January 18, 2007
The disappearance of an 87 year old woman from her home on December 22nd, coupled with the vanishing of another woman, 69 years old
from the same locality, prompted law enforcement to initiate a search in the area of Irish Road, Town of Colden. Police determined that the 2nd woman, Nancy Phelps',
sister lived on Irish Road, not far from the burned out home of the first woman, Geraldine Jackson. Police found blood in the garage of Phelps' home, along with other
evidence of foul play.
A "person of interest", connected to that locality was being interviewed.
Federation search teams, along with the DEC Forest Rangers, were brought in at the request of law enforcement to conduct a search of
areas along Irish Road in hopes of finding clues that would lead to the missing women. With little snow on the ground, but heavy snows in the forecast,
the search took on a high sense of urgency.
The ground search was abandoned after two days when heavy snow covered the area. Limited searching of local ponds and bodies of water was conducted
by law enforcement dive teams. During the course of the search, some evidence linking the missing women to a possible suspect was discovered.
If no new clues lead to the where-abouts of the women, searching will be continued in the early Spring as soon as the snow cover melts.
Additional News' Story
Additional News' Story
Additional News' Story
Additional News' Story
Missing Woman Found Deceased
74 year old female
Franklin Township, NJ
March 6, 2007
A 74 year old female was last seen in her home at 2322, and not discovered missing until 0020
the next morning. New Jersey Search and Rescue responded to the search at the request of local law enforcement at 0610.
NJSAR was responsibile for laying out search sectors and leading search teams into them. Early sweeps
located slippers, that were identified as belonging to the subject, near a small pond that was iced over.
Local Fire Department drained the pond while divers investigated. The subject was located about 15 feet out from the
shorline in less than 6 feet of water.
Search for 2 Missing Women Resumes
Suspect in Custody
Erie County
March 31, 2007
At the request of law enforcement, and with the snow cover melted, search crews along with K9 units,
were focused on searching areas along Irish Road. With a suspect in custody, the Erie County Sheriff's office and the
New York State Police, still needed to locate the two missing woman. Forensic material previousl located in the search
area strongly suggested that the disappearance of both women was the result of criminal activity. As the suspect's home
was locatd in the search area, those premises were "off limits" to civilian search crews in order to ensure
that any clues found there were handled under law enforcement's chain of custody.
Search crews working around the suspect's premises and those of one of the missing women located several items of interest, along with a few items that
were apparently lost by previous searchers in January. With a strong east wind, K9 units showed strong interest in an area west of the suspect's house but, due to
the restrictions on where they were allowed to search, none of the alerts could be resolved.
Mid-afternoon the county District's Attorney's office received an anonymous tip to investigate a storage shed located
directly across (east of) the suspect's house. Although the shed belonged to a neighbor, it was learned that the suspect had access and permission to
utilize it. Law enforcement officials searching the shed discovered two paper-board barrels that contained what appeared to be human remains, packaged in plastic and
covered with concrete mix.
Hiker Missing
Car located, gone 3 days
Erie County
April 1, 2007
44 year old, Randy Merlau was reported missing by his family on Sunday April 1st. A not left by Merlau on Thursday, was not
discovered by family members until Sunday. The note, from Merlau stated that he was going on a 3 hour hike.
Wyoming County Sheriff's deputies located Merlau's car parked along a limited access road in the town of Holland, Erie County.
The Erie County's Sheriff's department, aided by fire personnel, and Federation personnel started a search in the area of the subject's car. T
The subject usually "bushwacked" as opposed to following roads or trails. A helicopter from the sheriff's department was also utilized
to overfly the area using an infrared camera. No sign of the subject was discovered Sunday night.
The search was resumed Monday morning. Merlau's body was discovered by a land owner a few miles north east of his truck. An autopsy showed that
Merlau died of natural causes.
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