S.C. Coroner's New Rescue, Recovery Team Goes Old School with Horses

In Lancaster County a new tool is in the hands of emergency officials who need to search rough terrain during rescue and recovery missions. It's not the latest technology, but real old school.

A horse team.

County coroner Kara Knight-Deese has started a Mounted Response Unit. Knight-Deese unveiled the team Friday and swore volunteers in as members of the coroner's office.

While the unit is based and run out of the coroner's office, other agencies the coroner works with — the sheriff's office, South Carolina state police and other emergency responders in both Carolinas — will be able to request the help of riders who have training and experience in crime scenes and evidence preservation, Knight-Deese said.

Lancaster is east of Rock Hill and south of Charlotte.

Some police agencies have mounted patrols — the nearby York County Sheriff's Office has one, for example — but the Lancaster team is believed to be the first coroner-based horse response unit in South Carolina and the country.

Why horses?

Emergency officials already have access to drones, ATVs and other vehicles, but horses can navigate terrain that might be difficult or impossible for vehicles, Knight-Deese said said at a news conference Friday in Lancaster.

"We were also asked, like with all the new technology out there, why horses? Because what's old is new. You never forget the roots of anything," she said.

Horses provide a fast and efficient search means in times when a person is missing, Knight-Deese said.

"Our people are great for searching, but horses can get us there a lot faster, and they can get us there in areas where you otherwise couldn't reach," she said.

The idea of a horse team in the age of technology came up

a year ago along the Catawba River where Lancaster County borders York County. A man went missing near the S.C. 5 bridge. The search went on for 19 days before the man's body was found. Some of the area was wild, steep brush that even ATVs could not get to, Knight-Deese said.

Horses can also carry in medical people and equipment, she said.

"We put paramedics on our team so that in the event anyone is out searching and you find someone who may be injured in a very remote area, our horses who found them can radio back to the base camp and have another horse bring a medic out to them," Knight-Deese said.

The team

Team members have training to find evidence or people, then will call in law enforcement, forensics or others needed to investigate. The horses are retired workhorses.

In South Carolina each county elects a coroner. The six-member unit will not cost taxpayers any money because it is made up of volunteers who are sworn to perform the tasks under the coroner's office, Knight-Deese said.

"One of the questions that we were asked is, 'How much is this cost to the taxpayers?' Not a dime. This is going to be 100% funded by donations," she said.

The horses will be kept just across the border in Union County, North Carolina, where team commander Laura Pettler houses them at her farm. Pettler, a forensic criminologist, said she is proud to volunteer to help. She said the unit will train the horses to stay calm.

"So like in a situation like this, where there's a lot of people around, or there's a lot of activity going on with loud sounds, sirens, lights, we're going to be training them for handling those situations with ease," she said.

Pettler said they will put the horses through "de-spooking" exercises like walking around fire and jumping over objects through obstacle courses.

"So between building their brains to understand stressful situations and how to respond to those in a calm, responsible way, they can serve the people," she said. "That's what we're doing."

Other volunteer team members include Georgia-based crime scene investigator Sheryl "Mac" McCollum, who has experience as past director of the Crisis Response Team for the Atlanta Olympic Games bombing and the Sept. 11, 2001, Crisis Response Team at the Pentagon, officials said.

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