Missing Motorcyclist Search Ride (UPDATED)

We are riding down to Mineral, VA tomorrow to look for the missing rider.

His family is organizing a search of the area at 11am, details at below.

Its a 2hr ride down there so we'll be leaving at 9am SHARP from King Street Blues.

Please help out. If KSB is out of the way for you, you can ride down there directly.

Any questions call Boris (215) 917-5272

The ride is on SATURDAY June 4th, my previous e-mail said Sunday.

Just recieved the search details from Paul Church, Ross's brother.-

My family and I are organizing a voluntary search of the area where we suspect Ross may have had an accident on his motorcycle tomorrow, June 4th, at 11 AM. The rally point for this endeavor will be Dickinson's Store at 5072 Zachary Taylor Drive, Mineral, VA. This location is just south of Ross's presumed last location and will be an ideal starting point for a search of the Northbound side of State Highway 522. Drive time from Fairfax to Mineral is about 1.5 hours.

My Father and I have devised a decent method of organizing this that relies on an individual, or pair, simply walking 20 minutes along the highway and checking the immediate vicinity for anything suspicious. We feel this gives us a much greater ability to search the wooded areas off the highway than simply driving by via car. We will be dropping people off at locations roughly a mile apart (less if its densely wooded) and allowing them to search northward for roughly 20 minutes before swinging back and picking them up again. For example, person A gets dropped at mile marker 1, person B gets dropped at mile marker 2, and person C gets dropped at mile marker 3. The vehicle driver waits 20 minutes, then swings back and picks up the individuals in the order they were dropped off. Adjust for # of vehicle passengers. Rinse and repeat when one area has been covered, and additional vehicles will simply cover another area farther North of where the last vehicle searched. We've isolated a stretch of 522 that is roughly 30 miles in length, but where only 15 miles or so will need to be searched. (The remainder is front yards, tended fields, areas graded high enough a motorcycle couldn't leave the road, fenced or guardrail areas (we'd have seen a broken section), or businesses.

Keep in mind, the goal here is to locate Ross and not to injure the participants, cause vehicle accidents or engage in additional searches for lost party members. Stay safely away from the road where feasible, but DO NOT wander any significant distance into the wooded areas unless you find something particularly curious. Notify others if you find it necessary to do so.

Please ensure you meet the following requirements:

Can Walk One Mile in roughly a 20 minute period
Own Long Pants or Bug Spray
Own Bright Colored Clothing (Red, Yellow, Orange, White, Neons Not Camoflauge, Forest Green, or Brown)
Own a Cell Phone
Possess physical ability to avoid oncoming traffic if driver is inattentive

Safety First

First order of business is to rally at Dickinsons Store, Second is to search the Northbound Side of 522 until we intersect route 15, and then, if time and personnel permits, to search the Southbound Side. The estimated time commitment for all of the above is between 2-4 hours, depending on the number of people we can get to assist. Hydrate, Communicate, and Be Safe.

Please forward this email to ANYONE you think would be willing to help out.

And thanks.

....

ps. we will try and have print outs of Ross or his Bike to post in areas we believe they may do some good. Feel free to speak to anyone you pass and let them know who were looking for and what were doing. Get the information out.

--
Paul Church

Reston, VA

Mobile - 703-966-2724
P.S. Sorry for the mass-emails but this is a serious situation.