Vanished hiker prompts massive search operation

The person said he talked with Hosch for about 10 minutes and that he appeared to be in good health and spirits. Immediately before hitting the trail, Hosch went to the Mountain Crossings Store at the Walasi-Yi Center a short distance away, where he was recorded on camera.

Hosch has deep ties to the area and is intimately familiar with that part of the Appalachian Trail, having had a particular fondness for it since he was a kid. His family told searchers he had planned to go from the Reece trailhead to the shelter and back, as was his longstanding habit.

Originally from Gainesville, Hosch was in town visiting area family and had made other plans for Nov. 11, but for some reason, he never made it back to his vehicle.

Authorities are working through multiple scenarios of what might have happened to Hosch as they continue the search, Union County Sheriff Shawn Dyer said Sunday.

“We don’t suspect any foul play, but the way we do things, we don’t rule anything out until we know what happened,” Dyer said. “This could have been a medical emergency or an accident, but we don’t rule anything out.”

Kate Morris of Hosch & Morris Attorneys and Counselors was updating the public last week on the “around the clock” search efforts. Hosch is a partner in the Dallas-based law firm and a professor at Southern Methodist University Dedman School of Law.

To date, efforts have included “dozens of trained search and rescue officers, specialized K-9 units, aerial support including helicopters and drones, advanced technology and tracking resources (and) additional search and rescue teams,” Morris said.

To review the updates and read biographical information about Hosch – a family man, churchgoer, prominent attorney, respected professor and beloved friend to many – visit https://www.hoschmorris.com/.

The search began on Wednesday, Nov. 12, after Union County E-911 received a missing person call around 2 p.m. The Sheriff’s Office quickly located Hosch’s vehicle, and the initial search team made it to the site before 5 p.m. in the hopes of finding him before nightfall.

Searching resumed Thursday – the first full day of the rescue operation. Union County Fire Chief & Emergency Management Agency Director David Dyer has been commanding the search every day from 6 a.m. to 11 p.m. at the Emergency Operations Center inside Fire Station No. 1.

Each day consists of a 12-hour operational search period, starting at around 7 a.m. and wrapping up close to 7 p.m. Working in such challenging terrain is especially unsafe overnight, so searchers must call it a day every evening to pick back up at daybreak.

Dyer said Sunday there was not yet a timeline to call off the search, but he added that survival odds had diminished, since Hosch had been without food and water for days by the weekend, with exposure to snow and temps in the teens the first night and several cold nights thereafter.

Multiple dog teams have been combing the entire trail section day in and day out, with some positive sign, and thermal cameras have been deployed via helicopter to try to find Hosch, picking up wildlife but no signs of the missing man.

And it hasn’t helped that the trail topography is so treacherous, thick with woods, dense mountain laurel bushes, and steep, rocky, loose ground.

“Some of our searchers are having to crawl under these bushes to get through it,” EMA Director Dyer said. “Some of them are having to hang on to roots and trees to keep from falling down the mountain. It’s like the steepness of your roof.

“A lot of people don’t understand – they think this is flat ground, it looks flat on a map, we can just go and look for him.”

From a standpoint of resources, Dyer said the search has had great participation, allowing first responders to complete all their objectives per day, and that Hosch’s family – updated daily about the efforts – has been “working with us very well.”

Among the many contributing agencies, the effort has had assistance from state and federal resources like the Georgia Emergency Management Agency, Georgia Department of Natural Resources, Georgia State Defense Force, Georgia State Patrol and U.S. Forest Service.

“All the surrounding mountain counties, which are accustomed to this terrain and accustomed to these searches – are aware of how to search in this area – even up into North Carolina, we have had counties that have volunteered to help us,” Dyer said.

As of Sunday, Dyer said that, while the search could not go on indefinitely, plenty of hope remained among those participating in the hunt for Hosch – the first major trail search of the year.

“Right now, we’re still continuing to be in aggressive search mode,” Dyer said. “Until we have some information not to be, that’s what we’re going to be in until we come to the point where there’s no other place to go, or we’re confident we’ve searched everywhere we possibly can, or we run out of resources.”

Added Dyer, “Our searchers want to find this guy – it is a major objective. And now, they’ve gotten to the point where they are extremely determined to find him. So, morale is good.

“We’ve had a lot of other counties come in; even though they’ve gone through some of the worst terrain in Georgia, they are still coming back here, willing to help, willing to do it.”

Dyer said the search would continue at least through the start of the week, even if search teams shrank due to some first responders having to report for their regular weekly shifts. And people are getting tired from multiple days of looking.

“We’re trying to keep everybody safe, search the place as much as we can, and we’re asking for all help – even some divine help here to help us find this guy,” EMA Director Dyer said.

Also Sunday, Sheriff Dyer said authorities were still operating under the assumption that Hosch was alive, noting they would do their best for as long as they could to locate him safe.

“The guys here searching, I take my hat off to them,” Sheriff Dyer said. “They’re searching some very rough, thick and steep terrain. They’ve volunteered their time to do this, and I’m just proud we live in a community where people still do that.

“I think David Dyer and the Fire Department’s doing a wonderful job. They work and try so hard – when something like this happens, we’re just very blessed to have the resources we have here.”

The sheriff added, “David Dyer has been in this business so long, and he’s really good at these type missions and been very, very successful. If I was lost, I’d want him to be finding me. I hope that never happens, but if it did, I’d want him leading the pack, because he knows what to do.”