by Dave Weiman
Published in Midwest Flyer Magazine February/March 2024 Digital Issue
Do you remember the article we published in the June/July 2023 issue of Midwest Flyer Magazine about how the South Dakota Wing of the Civil Air Patrol used a missing horse in their advanced training in search and rescue? If not, read the article here:
https://midwestflyer.com/?p=16276
Civil Air Patrol Photo
The South Dakota Wing of the Civil Air Patrol (CAP) was part of an effort to find a missing horse that broke free from a wilderness camp in Wind Cave National Park on May 2, 2023. After a series of Facebook postings, someone suggested that the owner of the horse contact the Civil Air Patrol for assistance. The owner had already contacted National Park officials, and a group search was initiated.
The search allowed CAP members to refine their air-to-ground visual search using fixed-wing aircraft and photography drones.
“The incident was an unusual situation, but one that was similar to a missing person search,” said Craig Goodrich, the Civil Air Patrol Incident Commander, and Vice Commander of the South Dakota Wing. “This mission was a good opportunity to practice searching for a missing person. It also allowed the CAP to work closely with the National Park Service and other agencies, which will enhance our abilities to work together if we need to look for a missing person at Wind Cave or in the southern Black Hills in the future.”
The CAP Wing was already in training mode for May under Air Force auspices when they got the call to help in the search.
The horse’s owner, Gin Szagola, 22, of Waxhaw, North Carolina, was riding across the United States and camping in the park at the time. The horse, “Finley,” a 5-year-old Mustang gelding, got away in the middle of the night, pulling a long picket rope. The National Park Service, Custer County Search and Rescue, other agencies, and volunteers began searching for “Finley” right away, but he was nowhere to be found.
Visitors to the park eventually spotted “Finley” on May 9, 2023, in the vicinity of Wind Cave Canyon Trailhead, walking along Highway 385, about two miles from where he went missing a week earlier, and led him to the park office where he could be reunited with his owner.
Szagola began her journey across the United States on horseback on May 20, 2022, in Old Bridge, New Jersey. On September 30, 2023, Szagola and “Finley” reached the Pacific Coast in Seal Rock, Oregon in good health and spirits!
“Finley” is now pastured for the winter at a friend’s farm in the state of Washington, and Szagola started college in North Carolina, majoring in Biology with plans to become a veterinarian.
Photo by Sheila Kappel
Learn more here: https://www.ginandfaith.com/wip-oregon-part-5-onward-always/
