Mooreton, North Dakota - Search and Rescue and Service

The uniformed members of the various response agencies must have nearly outnumbered the population of the little town of Mooreton, North Dakota.  Members of the North Dakota Highway Patrol, County Sherriff, the Coast Guard, the National Guard, Border Patrol, Customs Agents, U.S. Fish and Wildlife, Valley Water Rescue Crew, and various Fire Departments from the area all responded to the report of a missing person.

A young woman from this little community where everyone knows everyone and everyone is connected to everyone, went missing last night.  She'd called to her family to say that she would be home in ten minutes, but she never arrived.  Her car was found this afternoon - several miles away, off the road, 10 feet under the cold waters of a flooded field.

An incident command center was set up in the Mooreton community hall (which still smelled faintly of last night's community fish fry...)  The room was filled with the earth toned green, and blue, and brown uniforms of the various agencies.  The colors of the room were brightened by the red and white jackets and vests of The Salvation Army's Emergency Disaster Service (EDS) team.

And in the same way, the somber faces of the uniformed men and women were brightened by the appearance of sandwiches, bottles of water, and urns of hot coffee.  "You just don't know how good it is to see you guys here," said one member of the U.S. Border Patrol who hails from Whitefish, Montana.  "I don't know if anyone else has told you this, but is so good for us to have you here."