The Verde Search and Rescue Posse, an auxiliary of the Yavapai County Sheriff’s Office, held its first meeting of the year on Monday, Jan. 13, at Sedona Fire District Station 3 to review the posse’s statistics for 2024.

VSAR was established in 1986 to assist YCSO with search and rescue efforts and to search for evidence at crime and accident scenes as assigned. VSAR has teams that use 4×4 vehicles, mountain bikes, horses and drones.

In 2024, the posse responded to 83 calls, which was consistent with the previous three years and down from an all-time high of 106 in 2020. The annual number of calls has increased since 2010, when there were 38. Of 2024’s 83 calls, nine were called off before units arrived because the missing person had been found, while 74 required search efforts. 

The posse rescued 70 people, recovered the remains of five people and conducted eight evidence searches and one fire evacuation. K-9 units and 4×4 vehicles were each used on 22 occasions and technical ropes on 16 occasions. Horse-mounted teams and mountain bike teams each assisted in four cases and drones were used six times to scout locations.

“There’s 40 of us right now on the roster, 36 of us are deployable for hiking [and] is 90% of what we do is hiking,” VSAR Captain Dondi West said.

Eight responses were made to Devil’s Bridge and the Dry Creek trailhead; West Clear Creek, Boynton Canyon and Black Canyon City were each the location of three responses; and the Mescal trailhead, Chuckwagon, Soldiers Pass, Bell Trail, Bell Rock, Cathedral Rock and Bear and Doe Mountain were the locations of two responses each. 

“Dry Creek Trailhead is the most frequent location after dark. One third of the missions are at night,” West said. “Many visitors come to Sedona to see the sunset, and do not prepare for how dark it gets after.” 

West praised the Friends of the Forest for diverting hikers at area trailheads and reducing callouts for the posse.

The volunteers are certified and provide their services free of charge, and rely on public donations to cover equipment and training costs. VSAR has listed a funding request of $57,694 in the Arizona Community Foundation Northern Arizona Giving Guide.

Treasurer Tim Anderson said that the posse has received nearly $20,000 in grants and $1,180 in donations since its last meeting in November.

The grants consisted of $8,946 from ACF, $10,000 from Arizona State Parks and Trails and $500 each from Wells Fargo and Edward Jones. Cindy De Sa Valente, an orientation hike sergeant, was awarded the2024 Ironman/Woman Award for responding to 48 callouts and meeting other participation metrics. She was also on the technical ropes team and earned certificates as a technician and operator.

The members who responded to the most calls, after Valente, were Si Silva, 44; Don Morgan, 44; Cree Horner, 43; Jennifer Brehler, 42; Dondi West, 36; Bernie Hajek, 33; Tim Anderson, 30; and Darrell Earnshaw, 28.

“The best way to get to know [VSAR] is come to these meetings, and we require for the new people who are interested in joining VSAR to attend two meetings,” West said ahead of their pack test at Sedona Red Rock High School on Saturday, Jan. 18. “That’s so you get to meet different people, and hear about the work that we do … After your second meeting, you get an application and you have an orientation hike … that’s two miles with a 25-pound pack.”

VSAR meetings are held from January through November on the second Monday of each month at 6:30 p.m. at SFD Station 3 at 125 Slide Rock Road in the Village of Oak Creek.

For more information, visit verdesar.org or contact verdesarposse@gmail.com (928) 771-3281.