Join us for the 10th Annual Search Party!

Join us for the party of the year and help TEXSAR celebrate what’s shaping up to be our busiest year yet. This will be a one-of-a-kind evening that you won’t want to miss. When natural disasters strike—like the recent floods in Central Texas—TEXSAR is there. Our trained volunteers mobilize rapidly to search for the missing, rescue the stranded, and support overwhelmed first responders. But we can’t do it without you! Search Party is more than a fundraiser—it’s your chance to directly fuel lifesaving missions across Texas....

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20 Years, 20 Stories – Bill Sleep: Receiving More Than Giving

Years Active: 2015-Present Bill Sleep recounts his first TEXSAR meeting in 2015 when attendees were asked, “Do you like to get muddy? Have you ever slept in a ditch? Do you like being outdoors?”  He replied, “Yes, yes and yes.” The match was made whereas previous attempts to volunteer for various organizations did not prove to be aligned with his interests, skills and background. Bill joined TEXSAR at 67 years old. Blending a love for adventure...

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20 Years, 20 Stories – Charlie Grove: A Lifelong Passion that Benefits the World

Years Active: 2013-Present Charlie Grove loves the outdoors and in early 2013, he searched the web for possible organizations with which to place his desire to serve in ways that took him outside.   As luck would have it, he discovered TEXSAR and its upcoming meeting was just a few minutes from his home.  “I enjoyed meeting the people and seeing their commitment,” Charlie said. “All the meetings after that were on the other side of Austin,”...

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20 Years, 20 Stories – Jamine Doty: Because Everyone is Deserving

Years Active: 2015-Present Jamine Doty’s first major experience with emergency response came when she and her sister helped save the life of a Texas Department of Public Safety officer who was hit by a car as he got out of his vehicle. They were high school students at the time. “An hour after we got home, it all hit me. I had been a lifeguard for years, so I knew first aid and the importance of controlling...

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20 Years, 20 Stories – Jonathan McComb: The One Who Survived

Years Active: 2016-Present “When I got out of the hospital after about four days, I went to the local church where people were serving food to the volunteers who were helping with the searches and clean up. I wanted to thank them for their work, and when I introduced myself as Jonathan McComb, they would say, ‘You’re the one who survived!’ I knew that God allowed me to survive for a reason. Expressing my gratitude to the...

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TEXSAR Announces the Hiring of Missing Persons Unit Director, Patrick Turck.

Patrick is a retired homicide detective with 38 years of law-enforcement experience. He has worked investigations for two different central Texas law enforcement agencies, the state of Texas and as a civilian investigator for the US Army in Afghanistan.  Patrick has extensive experience in homicide investigations; and has been featured on the Discovery Channel for his work on a cold case homicide that resulted in five lengthy prison sentences. He was a member of the SWAT team...

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20 Years, 20 Stories – Meg Hinkley – To Have a Purpose

Years Active: 2013 – Present “If ordinary people like me can learn skills and become helpful, anyone can,” said TEXSAR volunteer and Division Lead for North Texas, Meg Hinkley. It helps to have a heart to serve, which she says she sees in her fellow TEXSAR volunteers. Meg joined TEXSAR in 2014 and became Division Lead in January 2024. Her leadership was integral to TEXSAR’s response to the Panhandle Wildfires in March 2024. It has been quite a...

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20 Years, 20 Stories – Joe Huston: Heroics Under the Radar

Years Active: 2013-Present “We prefer to stay under the radar,” TEXSAR (Texas Search and Rescue) volunteer Joe Huston said. “We don’t see ourselves as heroes, though there are, truthfully, a lot of heroics in the work that all the team members do. Without a doubt.”  Huston has been involved in the search-and-rescue arena for more than 25 years. He joined TEXSAR in 2013.  “I first got involved in this work when I lived in The Woodlands...

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20 Years, 20 Stories – Penny Goering: Helping Comes Naturally

              Years Active: 2014-Current “I’ve always been one to volunteer. Following my family’s example of community service, I had volunteered with church, scouts, and other local activities. My son, Brandon, was one of the founding members of TEXSAR and often told me of their service to Texas,” said long-time volunteer Penny Goering. Her son was involved in the well-publicized search and rescue of Cathy Frye in Big Bend State Park in 2013. “Though we were visiting family, Brandon...

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