Dear AMA Family, It has been months since I've written, because what else is there to say? I can not tell you any facts regarding the missing aircraft or persons. Only God knows the story of what happened. However, there are those (you may be one of them) who continue to pray for answers or are involved with the search team who are still knocking on doors. Everyone has not sat down and given up the search, although after 1 2/3 years the chances of finding anything in the regrown jungle seems impossible. When we have facts or find out anything for sure I will let you know. Bob Edwards has put together a website about the search efforts at www.findingbobnorton.org. I appreciate his continued leadership in conjunction with the civil protection personal in Venezuela to try and find the missing airplane. You may be interested in the information presented at this website. At least look at the pictures! Feel free to pass this website link on. Thank you for your interest and prayers for the search efforts and families involved. And just a reminder, let us be diligent in our desire to find lost souls and tell them of a Savior. Jesus is coming soon! Hang on to the blessed hope of reunion day. Barbara Kay (Bob Norton's...
As we work on our next trip to Venezuela to continue the search effort, I want to let everyone know what we are planning and working on. The search effort has reached a very tedious and technical phase. I know that many wonder how long this will take and when will we stop searching. The answer is simple. We will continue to search until we find them or until there is nothing left to try. I have been asked many times if I think that some sort of foul play happened, like kidnapping or hijacking. There is that possibility, but I believe it is very slim. There are many things that can happen when flying over the jungle that even the best pilot can not overcome, and Bob was the “BEST.” I believe that most likely, Bob had trouble with the airplane and had to make an emergency landing in the jungle. The problem is the incredible vastness of the jungle and the relatively small size of the Cessna that Bob was flying. The major effort of the search teams focused initially around the mountains where Bob was flying with the assumption that he was headed to Betel to the north of the mountains. Very little has been searched in the Infierno area where we are focusing our efforts now. We think there is a strong possibility, taking all the intel from the past year and a half, and the fact that Bob needed to get help for a very sick girl, that he headed home. We are processing all the data that would support the scenario that Bob...
Bob Norton Search Effort … the next steps … Three members of the Norton - U.S. Search Team and two from the “Finding Bob Norton” documentary project are preparing to travel to Venezuela the first part of December. We have been working on the next focus area for the physical search. After reviewing all the data and after interviews with knowledgeable pilots, rescue workers and friends of Bob’s we are thinking there is a strong possibility that Bob was headed home to Maurak that morning when he and the others went missing. Our flight simulations will focus on scenarios that would lead back from Karun towards Bob’s home base in Maurak. The reasons behind this approach are: 1. There was a very sick girl on board and Maurak (St. Elena) was the closest hospital. 2. Bob was over capacity with seven people on board and would not have flown to Ciudad Bolivar. 3. Bob would not have wanted to take time to land in Betel to drop off the other passengers. 4. Numerous eyewitness accounts saying they heard / saw a plane come that direction that morning. When we arrive in Venezuela our plan is to fly the most likely routes for this scenario to look for possible information that would guide us to investigate on the ground (ie. best places to emergency land a plane). Tim de la Torre, the documentary producer, will be coming with us to film the team’s activities as we attempt yet again to locate Bob and the others. I will keep you posted as the time get’s near. As always, Bob Edwards Norton...
Wanted to send a quick update on the search effort over the recent months. We continue to gather data in reference to all possible scenarios. As we interview and talk with people who have heard different stories about what may have had happened to Bob Norton and the others there seems to be one common theme. All of the intel is 3rd, 4th or 5th hand information. It has been very difficult to make progress back to the origin of these stories. We will continue to investigate the most credible intel on our next trip to Venezuela. We continue to search for a technology that will help us locate the wreckage under the jungle canopy. We are going to delay the trip that was planned for June 24th to see if we can come up with something. We want to make this next trip down a "valuable add" towards the search effort and if we are able to further the physical search and investigate other pieces of intel we feel this will be best. There is much more that I could write, however, it would quickly bog down into too much details. Thanks to all that continue to support this effort. I will keep you all informed as we press ahead. As always, Bob...
By Bob Edwards Just a quick update about our next trip to Venezuela to continue the search effort for Bob Norton and the others. We originally planned on leaving May 20th and staying for 5 days. As JD and I discussed the need to make the most of this next trip down we decided it would be better to delay until everyone's schedules could allow us to spend 9 to 10 days there. This would give us more time to work on the data collection for the search effort and help develop the strategy for next steps. The new plan is to return to Venezuela the 2nd or 3rd week in June. We will be taking Jackie, a Venezuelan friend of mine that will help with communications and in coordinating the trip. We will also be taking Tim and Jamie de la Torre from the documentary team to film and continue the ongoing work of developing the documentary. We are working on building what we are calling a Regression Model with all the search intel available. This will help us research all possible scenarios of what may have happened. Thanks for your continued thoughts and prayers. Bob...
It has been one year since Bob & Neiba Norton and 5 others went missing in the jungles of Venezuela. Not a day goes by that I don't think about and miss my good friend Bob. To everyone who has supported the search effort with their resources, time, talents and prayer I thank you from the bottom of my heart. Although we have still found nothing, we have not given up. The search for the lost is rarely what we think it will be when we set out on the journey. None of us knew it would be a year later and we would still not have located the precious souls from that ill fated flight from Karun to Ciudad Bolivar. My good friend and co-lead with the U.S. Analyst Team, JD and I are planning on traveling to Venezuela on March 20. Two team members from the documentary film project "Finding Bob Norton" will be traveling with us to obtain footage of searcher and witness interviews, and the continued effort to locate Bob and the others. While we are there, we will investigate every lead that has surfaced over the recent months and will determine what if any areas of the jungle need additional searching. For those interested in following the development of documentary, the link is: www.findingbobnorton.com We believe the story of Bob's life is powerful and worth telling. His challenges, his pilot training and skills, his work with AMA and GMI, and of course now the search for him and the others. To see how a seemingly ordinary man did such extraordinary things as a medical...
Click here to read a very touching Adventist World story by Barbara Norton Kay, sister of our missing AMA pilot and his wife.
Search Update: A few weeks ago, Celso attempted to take a team back into the jungle to continue the physical search for Bob, Neiba and the others. On the day that he was to leave he became ill and was unable to travel. His next attempt to return with a team will be after the 15th of January. They did investigate the runway area near Infierno on an earlier trip out and found no sign that Bob and the others were ever there. Our physical search is still Zone D and Infierno since these are the areas with the strongest intel. We continue to follow up on any and every lead that comes along. Many have asked me if I believe that Bob and the others were taken hostage since there are rumors flying around that this may have happened. It is possible but all I can tell you is that we have no solid intel along these lines but we follow through on every lead that comes along. There simply is nothing solid to lead us further in this direction at this time. It may seem hard to believe that they can not be found, but when you fly over these areas you realize that it literally is jungle as far as you can see in any direction. It helped me to understand better how a small plane could drop in and not be found, even after 10 months. The plan is to take a small team down in February (the one year anniversary) to meet with Celso and the others helping with the search effort. We will...
Quick Update on the search effort. Celso is well again from his recent bout with malaria and is ready to return to the jungle to search. We are wanting him to return to the area called Infierno to see if he can get to the two grass landing strips there. We do not believe that these have been searched yet. If Bob was returning to Santa Elena that morning and had trouble with the plane, this would have been a possible place for him to attempt to land. Celso is also wanting to return to Zone D and we want him to go there. These two zones are the highest priority for the search effort and fit two of the strongest possible scenarios for actions Bob may have taken that morning. The YouTube video news update about the search is being developed by Kristen Johnson and may end up being a two part production, each approximately 5 minutes long. As soon as they are posted on YouTube I will of course send out the link. Kristen's work is excellent and I look forward to seeing how this turns out. We have continued to recieve donations through OCI and now have enough money to send Celso back out to search. We can not thank you enough for your continued support and prayers. The search could not go on without it. It seems that God provides just as it is needed with both financial support and with enough intel to take the next step forward in the search. I was talking with JD yesterday and said it doesn't feel like we...
Compiled by Barbara Kay Dear AMA Family, A number of you shared thoughts and memories of Bob and Neiba with me after they went missing. While the search has revealed nothing our hearts will not allow us to forget the times spent with them. In this letter I am including some of these communications so you can be blessed by these words. Several of you got to live with them in Venezuela and have a perspective of their lives in service I never saw. As a family we mourn, we remember, we hope. As Bob’s sister I’ve known him more years than any of his friends. When we four kids made paper airplanes and had competitions in the living room I knew the pilot gene existed beyond our daddy. All of my brothers got their private pilot licenses, although Bob’s schooling came later in life. Both Bill and Bob pursued to the top ratings with a goal to carry the torch our father had laid down. Despite the challenges and losses in their lives my brothers have pressed forward while I cheer them on. As I have shared for months, only God knows what has happened and where Bob, Neiba, Gladys and the others are. Not knowing has been very difficult. Though I can not explain nor understand the tragic situation I continue to trust that God is in control and has a plan. We have the ultimate hope of seeing them again. Here are your notes, stories, and memories. Lynn Wallington: I only made 2 trips to Venezuela for a total of about 8 months down there, but...
