Search and Rescue

Civil Air Patrol’s South Dakota Wing participated in the search for a missing 17-year-old March 11 and 12 in Hand County.

Unfortunately, local authorities found Wyatt Rowland of Miller deceased in the afternoon of March 12. Wyatt was reported missing on the morning of March 10. Authorities found the youth's pickup truck in a slough north of Miller and his body nearby.

"We flew nearly every search pattern we are trained to fly," said Col. Mike Beason, who directed air operations for CAP’s part of the mission.

SD Wing has received thanks from the owner of a horse that members searched for in 2023. The horse’s owner was riding across the United States and was wilderness camping in Wind Cave National Park. The horse, Finley, got away in the middle of the night, pulling a long picket rope. 

South Dakota is the latest state with a life saved credited to CAP support. The CAP “Save” is for a cell phone forensics mission during which the wing was not activated.

Members of South Dakota Wing, Civil Air Patrol (CAP), stood up for a mission October 20 involving a member of the CAP family.

South Dakota Wing, Civil Air Patrol, was part of the search that found the body of Kay Flittie near Spencer, S.D. in Saturday, April 16.  The Sioux Falls woman had been missing for over a week and her abandoned car had been found abandoned on I-90 near the Spencer exit in Hanson County.

Civil Air Patrol’s Cell Phone Forensics Team helped Custer County, S.D., searchers find a hunter who did not return home when expected Tuesday. With bitterly cold weather and snow likely, the safety of the missing man was a serious concern.

South Dakota Civil Air Patrol personnel in South Dakota and North Dakota supported the Oglala Sioux Tribe Sunday evening in its search for a missing teenager near Red Shirt, SD. The 14-year-old was last seen leaving a residence Saturday evening and was located in Rapid City.

Authorities called on Civil Air Patrol’s Cell Phone Forensics unit to pinpoint the last know location of a man who had been ice fishing near Mobridge.

South Dakota Wing, Civil Air Patrol, is flying again today in the search for a missing Day County woman. We're looking in specific areas identified by the Day County Sheriff's office.

South Dakota Civil Air Patrol (CAP) joined the search today for a woman missing in Day County. Amy Dougherty was last seen when she left for work Wednesday, driving in blizzard conditions from Andover to Bristol. She was driving a black Chevy Trailblazer. CAP involvement was requested by the Day County Sheriff’s Department via the South Dakota Department of Emergency Management.