Search and Rescue team a new addition in Georgia

By Andria Simmons

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

A new search and rescue team created to help locate missing children passed its first test Saturday when a toddler strayed from her parents’ campsite near Dahlonega.

The Georgia Child Abduction Response Team (CART) was created last year by executive order of Governor Sonny Perdue. But until 3-year-old Brianna Guthrie went missing over the weekend, the team had never been formally activated, said Cindy Ledford, assistant special agent in charge of the Georgia Bureau of Investigation intelligence unit.

Around 5 p.m. Saturday, while her family was temporarily distracted, the toddler wandered away from a campsite off Copper Mine Road near the Chestatee River. Authorities said the surrounding terrain is mountainous and pocked with abandoned copper mine shafts.

The Lumpkin County Sheriff’s Office searched the area for several hours, but as nightfall approached the local deputies requested that the GBI activate the CART team, Ledford said.

CART is a comprised of nine state agencies that be called upon by local law enforcement in the event of a missing child search. The agencies include the GBI, Georgia State Patrol, Department of Natural Resources, Georgia Emergency Management Agency, Department of Corrections, Department of Human Resources, Department of Juvenile Justice, the Board of Pardons and Paroles, and the Department of Transportation.

A helicopter was deployed to search from the air and tracking dogs were brought in for a ground search. The Georgia State Patrol orchestrated road blocks and stopped 32 vehicles along Copper Mine Road overnight. Before sunrise, authorities also had paid a visit to 16 sex offenders who live in Lumpkin County and 64 residents who live within a 1 1/2 mile radius of the campsite.

Search teams were marshaling after dawn to scour more ground when rescuers heard the child cry out from a steep ridge about 350 yards from her parents’ campsite, said Ann Wiley-Alexander, ranger first class with the Department of Natural Resources. Brianna had apparently slept through the night and she awoke upon hearing activity nearby.

“She was definitely shaken up and very happy to see us,” said Wiley-Alexander, who brought the girl down and accompanied her to Chestatee Regional Hospital for a routine checkup. “We totally rejoiced.”

CART was modeled after similar efforts in other states, however Georgia’s team is slightly different because it doesn’t have specified team members, said GBI Director Vernon Keenan. The command staff from each of the different agencies is trained in how to respond. Keenan said the key to a successful missing child investigation is a swift, organized response. He said CART’s first effort “materialized the way it was designed and we had trained for.”

“We were all blessed that the child was recovered safely,” Keenan said.