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Source: The News & Advance, Lynchburg, Va.迷你倉Dec. 13--When faced with challenging searches -- whether looking for a person or a plane -- local rescue crews across the country turn to the U.S. Air Force for help. In such difficult cases, the Air Force calls in local engineer Justin Ogden.His phone rang at 2 a.m. Monday. A family of six -- including four children ages 3 to 10 years old -- disappeared in a remote region of Nevada. Using his specialized talents, Ogden unearthed the clue that led to everyone's safe return.Ogden is an expert in cellular forensics for the Civil Air Patrol, the volunteer civilian auxiliary to the U.S. Air Force. He is one of only two such experts working for CAP in the continental U.S. and has attained the rank of major in his 20 years with the organization."[Using cellular forensics] has become so routine in search and rescue," said Nevada CAP Wing Commander Tim Hahn."Search and rescue has become very digital."In the recent case in Nevada, a family drove out to the rugged, mountainous Seven Troughs region Sunday but never returned.Shortly after the search began, authorities called in Ogden, who looked for cell phone signals in the area -- which has very little service -- to try to track the group and discern their possible location. He was in a race against the clock as temperatures dipped to 20 degrees below zero."This is time-critical. Time is of the essence," he said.Ogden described his job as mining cell phone data and building a map to help guide rescue efforts.Monday evening he found the critical clue -- a signal from a remote cell tower. He used the tower's coverage area to direct rescuers on the ground to a more precise search location. It was not where the party had told friends they were heading, nor was it close to the last place they were spotted.Rescuers sent a team to the site Ogden described where they found an SUV that had gone off the road and up an embankment before rolling into a ditch mini storagend landing upside-down.For 20 minutes after the discovery of the vehicle, Ogden waited in Lynchburg for word of the family in Nevada.Then the text came -- "Six saves.""It was very exciting. ... It's incredible. I can't imagine being stuck out there myself two nights," Ogden said."[When searches last more than two nights] we're pretty worried about what the outcome is going to be."That dedication to recovering the lost has united Ogden with rescue crews across the country."There's kind of a kinship there -- 'We're not giving up on this one,'" Hahn said.It's work that keeps Ogden busy. He estimates he has helped with more than 400 searches since he began the work in 2006."I'm surprised I haven't had another one since this happened," he said Thursday afternoon.Many of those rescues don't end as happily. Ogden estimates about half his searches are for missing small aircraft. He described the crashes as generally "unforgiving."Often, local authorities do not call in the military for assistance until the case of a missing person is several days old, Ogden said. And as each day passes, survival chances drop, he continued.But that's changing as rescue crews see what Ogden and his partner, Brian Ready, can do. He estimates he's helped in over 100 cases just this year. The local sheriff's office in Nevada called him just hours after they became aware of the missing family this week because they had worked with Ogden before, he said."They knew to ask for us right away."If you get lost in the wildernessThe best thing you can do is to call 911 directly from your cell phone as soon as you realize you are lost, Ogden said.Your phone will broadcast your specific location to your authorities, who can begin looking for you."You leave the biggest clue we can ask for," Ogden said.Copyright: ___ (c)2013 The News & Advance (Lynchburg, Va.) Visit The News & Advance (Lynchburg, Va.) at .newsadvance.com Distributed by MCT Information Services儲存