Search continues for missing hiker Hosch

There has not been much to go on, only Hosch’s car, his hiking plans and a credible witness who met him in apparent good health on his way back down the trail, though others have since come forward to corroborate his presence on Blood Mountain the day he disappeared.

No physical evidence has been recovered in the search – no articles of clothing or other possessions to point teams in the direction of Hosch. K-9 use has shifted from general tracking to electronic devices and now cadaver dogs that are trained to find human remains.

“We’re not going to know until we find him, and we can’t say that he is deceased, but that is one of the theories that we have to explore,” said David Dyer, Union County Emergency Management Agency Director & Fire Chief.

Dyer is commanding the high-profile mission, which has garnered national media attention due to Hosch’s status as a well-known attorney and professor based in Dallas, Texas. He described the search as the most challenging he has faced in his three-plus decades doing trail operations.

“This is the longest, most difficult and the most resources and effort that we’ve ever put into any search in Union County that I can remember in my 35 years,” Dyer said, noting the topography of the main search areas off the trail as being particularly treacherous.

The Reece Trail offers a strenuous hike that, at a slow pace, can be completed in about two hours going from the Reece Trailhead up to the Blood Mountain Shelter at the top, which is what Hosch told family he would be doing that morning.

Testimony from some other hikers who claimed to have seen Hosch had him making his way back down the mountain at around 1:30 p.m. on Nov. 11. That should have given him plenty of daylight to safely return to his car.

But for some reason, he left the trail, and searchers cannot know why until they are able to find him. Currently, there is no accepted working theory as to what might have happened.

“We’ve gone through at least two dozen theories, and we have checked every possibility on those theories,” Dyer said.

The whole situation is confounding, for one, because the Reece Trail is the most popular hiking trail in Union County. Its frequently traversed paths are well worn, and searchers have ruled out many of the “decision points” that could potentially confuse hikers enough to get lost.

Primarily for reasons of maintenance and sustainability, the Appalachian Trail Conservancy will alter the layout from time to time, which can sometimes be an issue for hikers who are used to a trail being routed in a certain way.

Regardless of the reason a person gets turned around, the Reece Trail is so close to Gainesville Highway that cars can be heard along its length, giving lost hikers an audible signpost to seek help.

Of course, survivability has been a major concern for some time. Temperatures dipped into the teens the first evening of his disappearance, and by press time, it had been 13 days since Hosch had access to food or water. Still, the search continues.

Efforts are now concentrated on the interior of the trail, as searchers do not think Hosch would have attempted to navigate the dense overgrowth and steep, rough terrain too far off the main path even if he did get lost, given his age and being an Eagle Scout with hiking experience.

“Him being an Eagle Scout, if he got to the point to where he understood that he had to find shelter, he would have found a place to get under a rock, climb into a place to get out of the wind, and cover himself up with leaves – and he could possibly still be there,” Dyer said.

Without Hosch or additional clues turning up soon, Dyer does not see the search entering a fourth week, a possibility he has discussed with the family.

“I think we’re to the point where, if we don’t have any new evidence – nothing that will lead us in the right direction – we’re getting close to the end of our operations here,” Dyer said Sunday, though he was not ready to suspend the search by press time.

If the search is suspended, Dyer said they would wait until some “definitive information” came in to resume. No one is looking forward to that scenario, but even with plenty of available resources, Dyer said they are running out of plausible search areas.

Union County has been blessed with tremendous resources, including specialized personnel and equipment from all over Georgia, from North Carolina, South Carolina, Alabama and Tennessee, as well as lots of federal and state assistance.

But the effort requires possibilities to continue, for example, multiple K-9 scent indications that help define the search. Some indications have been discovered over the past couple of weeks; unfortunately, they have not led any closer to Hosch as far as anyone knows.

“We could send searchers and dogs up there and all the resources that we have at our disposal every day and still not find him,” Dyer said. “And there’s the possibility he could be under that rock, under that leaf pile, under something a person’s not going to be able to see.”

Still, everyone who remains out there from sunup to sundown, pounding the trail, its offshoots and the steep, rocky terrain beyond, is determined to give it their all for as long as they can.

“Every searcher here right now has a vested interest in the search,” Dyer said. “They want to find him. It’s a mystery to them, and they want to solve that mystery. Not only do they want to find him for the family, but they also want to know what happened.

“Where did he go? Why can’t we find him? So, morale is pretty high about continuing to come out here and work, day in and day out, to do anything we can to search for him. I’m confident we’re doing everything that we can do.”

A family representative remarked over the weekend that, while there was no new information produced by the end of Saturday, “We are grateful for the unwavering support of this community and all who continue to search.”

Generally, Dyer advises all people who would take to the Appalachian Trail to practice an abundance of caution before heading out, because the consequences can disastrous and even deadly: “My rule is, you never, ever, ever hike alone. Ever.”