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...

                Years Active: 2014-2022 “I believe God made us to be servants, not consumers. Our service with TEXSAR is part of that,” said Laura Norman as she discussed the involvement that she and her husband, Edward, had with TEXSAR from 2014 to 2022. As a fireman/paramedic in 2014, Edward worked for Fort Bend County Emergency Management and knew about TEXSAR. He believed it was a match to Laura’s desire to serve others. TEXSAR also met his goals...

“Volunteering with TEXSAR illuminated my feelings about wanting to help others, to do as much as I can for as many as I can,” said long-time volunteer Ken Jamilosa, “and that has affected my career choices and involvement as a volunteer for various organizations.” Ken joined TEXSAR as a member of Central Division about three weeks before the disastrous Memorial Day Wimberley Floods of 2015. “I went on one missing persons mission and shortly after the first...

20 Years, 20 Stories – Andy Anthony – From Disaster to Service Years Active: 2008 – Present Major disasters change lives. The ripples move from those who experienced the disaster to those who witnessed it, to those who heard about it or saw images from the scenes. 9/11 was one of those types of events and for Andy Anthony the events forced him to challenge himself with, “Why am I watching others suffer?”  Andy reflects on his childhood and...

“TEXSAR: 20 Years, 20 Stories, is a series of people-centric stories that celebrate the history of TEXSAR’s heroics and humanity as its volunteers continue their mission of ‘Texans helping Texans’ with Service above Self. The sequence of stories and profiles come together in 2024, the nonprofit’s 20th anniversary year.” TEXSAR: 20 Years, 20 Stories — Allen Robinson:  From Stuntman to Rescuer Years Active: 2014-Present When you understand stunt work and search-and-rescue (SAR) work, it makes sense that someone who excels in...

The Next Generation of ADIAT We are excited to announce that a new version of the Automated Drone Image Analysis Tool (ADIAT) is now available for public use. Originally released in 2019, ADIAT is an open source platform and set of computer vision algorithms that can be used to identify areas of interest in images from UAVs. This latest release includes a revamped user interface, significant performance improvements, a new detection algorithm, and advanced features to enhance...

Austin, TX – March 1, 2024 – In response to the devastation caused by the wildfires in the Texas Panhandle, Texas Search and Rescue (TEXSAR) will deploy a team to support our fellow Texans. They will deliver supplies and support local agencies on the ground.  TEXSAR volunteers will tackle whatever need the requesting agencies have of them TEXSAR volunteers are committed to service above self as Texans Helping Texans.  Donations are needed to make their service possible;...

TEXSAR has been selected as one of the top TWO finalists in the Search and Rescue category for the Land Rover Defender Service Awards! We made it this far – BECAUSE OF YOU! Thank you for showing up for TEXSAR! Thank you for your support, votes, sharing, outreach, and everything it took to get us across that finish line! It was incredibly humbling to see our community, supporters, and Texas rally around our team for this opportunity.  We’ve been invited to an...

TEXSAR is thrilled to announce, we have been selected as one of the top five finalists for the Land Rover Defender Service Awards in the Search, Rescue & Emergency Support Services Category – Presented by PELICAN. Beginning September 15th, TEXSAR will participate in an online voting contest against four other SAR groups for the title. Please vote, and help us win! If we are the winner, we will win a $100K Land Rover Defender for field operations that is outfitted and wrapped for TEXSAR, with an...

The response to an incident involving people who are lost, missing, or endangered frequently involves a search and rescue (or SAR) mission. Incidents such as these are frequently (but not always) related to recreational outings, criminal activity, medical issues, or disasters. Let’s take a look at a few different situation types that may call for a SAR mission! One classic example of a scenario that warrants a search and rescue operation is the response effort to a natural disaster, such as...