Frequently we are asked to review side scan sonar images and offer a second opinion of our interpretation. Often items of interest can missed because of the nature of the bottom material and any debris lying on the bottom. The following story relates the results one such occasion.

        A boat dealer in Thunderbolt, Georgia, Len Jordan, who had assisted with the search for a
missing airplane, the pilot and his son, knew Gene and Sandy Ralston. They had volunteered their side scan sonar equipment to search for the airplane. Mr. Jordan contacted Thunderbolt Police Chief Smith and arranged a conference call with Gene on January 27, 2005. They discussed the possibility of Gene assisting with the search for a missing woman in the Wilmington River. During the conversation, they discussed the previous side scan sonar search efforts. Gene suggested that he would like to review the images and evaluate whether or not he would be able to offer any further assistance. Although they wanted Gene to fly to Savannah as soon as possible, they agreed to wait for his review of the images.

        The boat dealer contacted the local sonar operator, Fred Beason, and asked him to contact Gene to arrange sharing his images. Fred was more than willing to provide his images for review and indicated he had no experience searching for bodies and welcomed any assistance with interpreting his images. He was asked to send the images by FedEx and have them held at the Boise airport station for Saturday pickup.

        The package arrived Saturday morning, but because of a misunderstanding, delivery was not scheduled until late Monday afternoon! Gene went to the FedEx station and discussed the situation with the front desk agent explaining the urgency of the situation. Gene has a close relationship with the FedEx office in Boise and the agent suggested the operations manager might be willing to sort through the Monday delivery packages to find the errant envelope. Gene returned home not hopeful of having the images before late Monday.

        Late Saturday afternoon, Gene received a call from the FedEx agent saying the manager had found the package! Gene quickly drove to the airport and  returned to review the 245 images. The sixteenth image revealed what appeared to be a human body in 20 feet of water! Gene quickly called Fred and was given the contact information for the detective in charge of the operation.

        Gene interrupted the detective's dinner to give him the details and the location of the body. Since it was well after dark in Thunderbolt by then, Gene suggested they not search until Sunday morning.

        Unfortunately, a key person was not available for the dive operation to commence on Sunday, so it was scheduled for early Monday morning. Fred and his son were on the water at daybreak only to find the body was no longer there. He continued searching and, with helpful pointers and example images given to him by Gene, did locate an object of interest about 200 feet away.

        He was able to connect to the internet from his boat via WiFi and transmit three more images to Gene for review. Gene called him to confirm that the "object" indeed appeared to be a body.

        Divers were summoned while a marker was placed near the "object". By the time the divers were fully operational and began diving, the tidal current had moved the body once again! The area was scanned again, the marker placed again, the divers descended again, the body moved again. By then it was getting dark, but the low slack tide was soon approaching. The divers agreed to make one more dive, hoping the body would not move during the slack tide.

        At 8 PM Eastern Time, Fred called Gene to say the recovery was successful. They recovered the missing woman. At midnight that night, Police Chief Smith called Gene to thank him for his efforts.

        Please feel free to contact us if you have images you would like to have reviewed. This is generally a free service. We can be reached at (208) 362-1303. Shipping instructions will be provided.