Back in June, some of the Norton Search team members attended the National Association for Search & Rescue (NASAR) annual conference in Sparks, NV. We presented the Norton Search effort there. Additional assistance came in the form of Tim Evinger, an experienced investigator joining the effort. Following the NASAR presentation we traveled to Yosemite in California to meet with John Dill and some of his team to conduct our second Search Summit. We worked on the development of our search plan and determined our next steps. Pictures are posted on our website of the events. ( http://findingbobnorton.org/pics scroll to the bottom of the pics to see the YOSAR and NASAR pics) We continue our efforts and hold bi-weekly Skype conference calls to coordinate the work being done.
Currently we are working with two drone designs. One of them is primarily for use as a development platform for sensors, cameras and radar to be tested. The other is planned for taking to Venezuela to fly and scan over the jungle. It is our hope that the technologies we are developing for the Norton search, will also be useful for other searches in the future.
We are planning to return with a small team to Venezuela in October to video interview all the key eyewitnesses and to fly simulations of possible routes Bob Norton may have flown. We will be taking high resolution images of the jungle canopy as we fly these routes looking for possible clues to where the plane may have gone down. All the information being gathered is going into a computer based search model.
We now have established our search effort as a non-profit organization named “The Norton Search Team, Inc.” Donations may be made directly to our organization or through OCI as in the past. We continue to need financial assistance in order to travel back down to Venezuela to conduct interviews and conduct searches and for the development of the search drone and associated technologies. Thanks to all who have supported in the past and to those who continue to support this effort. See our ”Special Thanks” page on our website for the many companies and organizations that are helping with this effort: http://findingbobnorton.org/special_thanks
As always...
Bob Edwards
Team Leader
The Norton Search Team, Inc
A Non-profit Organization
206 Lind St.
McMinnville, TN 37110
423.280.8217