April 27, 2023 at 11:21 a.m.
Oneida County sheriff explains search procedure
Questions raised after bodies of missing teens discovered in Enterprise
The investigation into what led to the deaths continues but authorities believe cold weather was a factor.
One questions that has been raised is why the search operation was called off at 8:30 p.m. on Sunday, April 16.
Oneida County Sheriff Grady Hartman, the officer in charge who made the call to stop the search that night and resume the next morning, confirmed that was the case.
"The weather was bad and it was turning worse," he said of the colder temperatures and the start of what ended up being several inches of snow in the area. "We had the drone up as much as we could, we had people in the woods and we started to worry about ... we checked all the trails and the roads and we were working on the rest. I can tell you we were working on some other leads, that they (Brown and Grefe) got picked up and might be in other places. So, we were working two different angles at the same time."
Hartman said there was definite concern not only for the two teenagers but "getting other people lost" and as the darkness fell on the night of the 16th, "we were gonna come up with a new plan and re-start at six in the morning when we had some light."
"The elements were against us and we wanted to get set for the morning and go from there," he said, adding that there were "more firefighters than I can count," six K-9s and law enforcement personnel from three different counties - Oneida, Lincoln and Langlade - involved in the search.
"Obviously, the outcome isn't what we wanted and when there is a bad outcome, law enforcement can't do anything right," Hartman concluded. "It's part of the job, I guess."
Brian Jopek may be reached via email at [email protected].
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