September 22, 2006

• Prayer Request

  It's been a long time since I updated – and I hesitate to do so with bad news – but today I want to solicit your prayers in behalf
  of the Ouachita Hills family.  On Tuesday afternoon this week Mrs. Velma Polk,
  the wife of our Farm Manager, disappeared.  Mrs. Polk is a very active and
  health seventy-six year-old lady who regularly walks 5-10 miles a day with a
   student or other caregiver.  She actually walks very fast.  Because she suffers
  from Alzheimer’s she isn’t allowed to walk alone.  Somehow she slipped away
  unnoticed about 6 p.m.  Although Mr. Polk
  noticed about five minutes later, he was not able to locate her around the
  immediate area of their home on our campus.  Calling the College dorms and some
  of the staff to join the search, Mr. Polk continued to look for her.  After dark
  the authorities were contacted, and sheriff’s deputies from both
  Clark and
  Pike Counties responded
  with search and rescue teams including K-9 units with Bloodhounds.  Many of us
  joined them through the night in hopes of finding her quickly.

  Because the school is on the edge of
  hundreds of square miles of timber land with no homes, only timber access roads,
  the search has been like searching for a needle in a haystack.  We don’t know if
  she would have walked a long ways (she could have easily covered 10 miles before
  dark) or headed into the forest nearby.  Classes and work have been suspended
  and for the last three days 65 Academy and College students as well as all
  available staff have been combing the woods in search of Mrs.
  Polk.

  The support from the community has
  been incredible.  Even though the local communities’ fire departments and First
  Responders are all volunteer, hundreds have joined in the search.  No less than
  seven fire departments from a thirty mile radius have turned out to join the
  search.  Officers from several nearby towns have also brought their equipment,
  including infrared scanning devices and four-wheelers.  Four search and rescue
  dogs have failed to track her down despite several disappointing “hot” trails. 
  Many local citizens have also taken off work to bring their ATVs and horses or
  search on foot.  The Civil Air Patrol has sent four planes, including two with
  infrared mapping capability.  The Arkansas Forestry Commission, the Game and
  Fish Commission, and the Office of Emergency Services have all sent personnel to
  join the search.  The Governor of Arkansas released a U.S. Army National Guard
  helicopter with the best heat-sensing equipment available to be used.  Today the volunteers were joined by 50 U.S. Army National Guard troops.  The Red
  Cross brought a truck to provide meals for the volunteers.  Our campus has never
  seen so many uniforms on it at one time!

  So far, as of Friday evening, the
  search has turned up nothing.  While hope must necessarily be waning for a
  favorable outcome, it is not yet completely gone.  We’re still looking, still
  hoping, still praying.  And I would invite you to join us in prayer that she
  would be found soon.

  Chester

  P.S. You can read local coverage of the story at www.siftingsherald.com/articles/2006/09/22/news/news3.txt

  
  

  • 10:28 pm
  • 6 Comments