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Story by Suzanne Nielsen and reprinted with permission of the
Daily Herald.
January 23, 2007
Wayne Buford, one of the dog handlers on the team looking for clues to the disappearance of American hiker Joel Gove, was airlifted by Winair charter to St. Maarten hospital late Monday morning. He will be sent on to a hospital in the United States today, Tuesday.
Search team coordinator Dan Tourtelotte of Merrill Investigations said that Buford was putting his dog through some exercise on The Road Monday morning when he experienced chest pains and flagged a passing vehicle to take him to the hospital. Tourtelotte met Buford there and discussed with him that the best plan was to evacuate him to a medical facility in the United States.
Tourtelotte said that Buford, who is in his early 50s, was appeared to be in good physical shape and had no known medical problems. Buford is a very experienced police officer, who works with a drug enforcement unit in Missouri that uses dog searches, and had spent many months in New Orleans coordinated the arrival and deployment of the canine corps there after the devastation of Katrina. Buford's dog is still on Saba, and will be looked after by the team which includes a veterinarian. All team members are retired or still active law enforcement officers.
Tourtelotte said that he had thoroughly researched the island's terrain before coming so the group is well prepared. The only surprise has been that the climate requires more attention to possible dehydration problems, so the dogs go somewhat more slowly, with more rest periods. Tourtelotte said that the group was now concentrating their work in more concentrated area.
He added that the team was concerned about Buford, but they were very professional and the incident would in no way affect the progress of the task. "We will complete our job," he said. He added that the support and offer of help from the Saba community was overwhelming, and he had never experienced better during his many years of working in the field.
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Story © Suzanne Nielsen, 2007.
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