By land: A day with the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office rescue team

What began as a simple story idea to learn what it takes to run the Maricopa County Sheriff's Office Search and Rescue Unit turned into an adventure.

BY CORBIN CARSON

Jul 5, 2017, 5:00 AM Updated: Jul 10, 2017, 10:46 am

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Editor’s note: In this multipart series, KTAR News’ Corbin Carson describes a day in the life — on land, water and in the air — of deputies who work on the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office Search and Rescue Team.

Check KTAR.com on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday to catch each part.

In the few hours I spent with MCSO Deputy Christopher Pittmann during the holiday weekend, I was strapped into a helicopter, watched a drowning victim being brought back to life and explored the vast Arizona desert. During that time, I gained a general idea of what it takes to search for those that need help in the more than 9,200 square miles that make up Maricopa County.

Pittman is a 20-year veteran of MCSO. For the past seven years, he’s been a coordinator for the agency’s search and rescue unit.

“Running a search is totally different than anything that anybody can really do in law enforcement,” Pittmann said.

We started by touring miles of the Sonoran desert as Pittmann showed me his daily routine. He kept track of hikers and their cars to make sure they came out in a timely manner.

“The red flag there is somebody’s possibly overdue if a car’s been at a trailhead for too long,” he said. “I’ll start investigating, maybe try to run down some family members […] and if they’re supposedly camping for too long, then no problem.”

If he feels the person has been away too long, Pittman may hike in himself to find them. He knows many of the trailheads frequented by hikers, hunters and campers by memory.

“You get down in these valleys and washes and it all looks the same,” he said. “And when you start getting into medical trouble where you’re overheated and dehydrated, your thought processes aren’t functioning correctly. It’s easy to become confused.”

Pittmann is one of seven coordinators that synchronize the county’s 150 or so volunteers who specialize in land, water and air search and rescue needs.

“We can’t perform our duties without our volunteer base,” he said.

The various teams include man-tracking units, mounted units, K9 units (Mark9), ATV/UTV teams, aviation units and the elite mountain rescue unit.

The volunteers conduct their own training and provide their own equipment and animals.

“They train constantly,” Pittman said. “They put themselves through grueling searches. It’s Arizona so it’s not the easiest of terrains to navigate, and especially when it’s July and 115 (degrees).”

For Pittmann, overseeing the various teams during a search is akin to a game of chess.

“You have to start whittling down the areas that they’re not, and focus on the areas that the profile and the distance traveled statistics will lead us to try to find them,” he said.

Searchers try to scale back the search into a manageable area.

“But even in that manageable (area), you could be talking about [20 or 30] square miles of space,” he said.

Searchers also need to keep in mind a person may have gone missing because of foul play.

Though it’s a hard job, Pittman said it’s the families who keep him motivated.

“You’re the guy that’s there to try to solve the great mystery of where their loved one went,” he said. “And that’s what I take very personal.”