Prologue

The title may have confused you as to the end result of a recent search that I and two others conducted on Wednesday, August 17 for James Hepworth, father of eight, missing since August 1st.  His van was found in a remote area in Wexford County near the Pine River, our nearly four hour search covered a few square miles along that river.  We effectively found nothing indicating that James was ever in the area.

How can I cruelly delude you into believing this was a successful search?  Please allow me to elaborate, I wasn't meaning to trick you.

Typically, when you search for something, to be successful at that search means you found it.  However, if, for example, you winter-proof your windows in November and later conduct a search for cold air leaks and find none later on, you have reason to say your search was successful because you found no leaks.  Leaks are bad, bad just like what could be left over after somebody has expired for a couple of weeks in the woods in scorching August weather. 

When you diligently conduct a search like this and find no signs of that, it is a truly successful search because you have actually bolstered the hope that James may still be alive by reducing the probability that he is somehow incapacitated in the region.

There were two other probabilities for our search. 

We may have found signs that he may still be alive and living feral.  Considering James' background, this is a legitimate possibility, and a good reason why we were looking for hidden shelters and other indications of transient camps. 

Or we may have found James himself either injured, dead, or trying to stay hid.  These aren't all favorable results, but whichever happened the search would have been successful in determining what was going on.  So it was plain to me at the start, that whatever happened regarding James, the search was guaranteed some degree of success, provided the searchers all made it home alive and well.  That last almost didn't happen.

The Search

Joining me in this search was Sheree Foster and her husband, Gene, who both were able to donate their day to the effort after my invitation was given.  Few folks can take Hump Day off for the prospect of walking several hours in a hot, humid and dense forest setting looking for something that potentially could be quite horrible to behold.  These guys were true troopers, however, and they even came better prepared gear-wise than me.

                                   The minimal search area we covered this day in Wexford County near the Dobson Bridge

After about an hour of travel from Ludington to the Dobson Bridge parking area, we went north along the Pine River and found the terrain rather slick and hilly.  After about twenty minutes  of checking around a couple of river bends and climbing a couple of hills, and seeing more inhospitable terrain a coming, we decided to check out a two track we passed on the way to the bridge that looked to follow the Pine River on the other side of the bridge. 

This turned out to be an idea that would allow us to cover quite a bit of ground.  The main path had a few side paths, some were two-tracks themselves, others were foot paths, even others may have been once-used deer trails.  Keeping our eyes open for anything of significance in the brush and the pathways, we started taking each sidereal trail until they ended or led to an opening, wetland, or otherwise led to far away from the main path. 

In this manner, we covered the majority of a forested area and more much like veins covering a leaf, with the path we originated on being the main vein.  The land was very lush, so there were likely some areas where we would have not seen in this area, even though we may have walked just a few yards away.  The lushness protected us from the sun that eventually popped out, but it also took away most of the refreshing wind, leaving us with soaked shirts.

The first path I took had a gate across it and seemed like it could be an entrance to a seasonal or hunting cabin; a place like that would be an excellent place to seek shelter for James, but it turned out that it just was a path that went into the woods.  I made it clear that we were not only looking for James, but for signs of some man-made shelters and other evidence of there being a fresh 'mountain-man' moved into the area recently. 

After several hours of continual hiking these side paths individually, I was on one when called by Sheree who frantically told me that Gene had been stung quite a few times by bees, and that he was allergic to bee stings.  They had found a bunch of tarps together and had started separating them when they found it was not sheltering anybody lately besides some angry bees.

The tarps were actually the first sign of some sort of shelter that we found, but Gene was hurting pretty bad and they started back to get to the main path, beating me there.  I caught up to them, and then hurried ahead on the path with all of our extra gear in tow to try and bring back my SUV, because Gene was hurting pretty bad and Sheree was trying to help him along. 

I met them near the beginning of the trail, popped the hood and allowed Gene to get some power steering fluid and motor oil from the vehicle.  Apparently, these products help bring the bee venom out and help in the healing process, which was news to me.  I couldn't help thinking after seeing Sheree  smear motor oil on Gene's back and legs of Dorothy doing the same with the tin man in "The Wizard of Oz" when they first met.  All that was missing was Gene squeaking out "Oil can!"from a half-closed mouth. 

So a potential disaster was averted and we'll definitely have to bring something for potential stings on our next trip, which I guarantee will be a success for all just like this one was, even if we don't find anything helpful after a long days searching other than a relaxing bath afterwards.  Perhaps if those whose lives are in crisis had a better, more inclusive, definition of success, we could have less searches like this in the future. 

Epilogue

Still at the end of the day, despite the hardships of the bee-stings, bug-bites, and the soaked outfits, the crew were optimistic about continuing searching for this missing man until he turns up.  After staying awake until the midnight hour, was woken the next morning, today, by the noisy Ludington street sweeper, and got up before 7 AM, and decided to check this website and the news on Facebook, and right at the top of my Facebook page (I am Xavier Luft) posted in the proverbial Facebook time of "just now" was this:

The day after I searched for him over nasty terrain, he found and reminded me that we had been Facebook friends for three years to the day on cyberspace.  Is it a sign from James, or is it just some Facebook notification designed quite rationally by Mark Zuckerburg and crew.  I took it as the former or maybe even from a higher source.  We'll find you buddy.

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X, the next time you do a search you should take along a couple thermal detectors. Deer hunters use them to track wounded deer and some are very effective up to 300 yards. If he is hurt or hiding it may be possible to spot him and you wouldn't have to cover so much ground. We've used them and found them to be very useful but like any other electronic gadget you have to learn it's quirks and adjust to them.

That's not bad advice, I would take one along to supplement the search if we had one.  In this case, however, if James' is still out in the woods, the thermal camera would have a blind spot if the worst case scenario happened.  In this case the user would have to be accompanied by another person to supplement the search and protect them from tripping.

If he is willfully hiding, its usefulness would also be limited, and three weeks later one thinks he would have moved on if he wants to remain hidden.  If he got grievously injured in a remote area, one has to believe he would have a hard time surviving three weeks.

On Friday, me and my 'deep woods' crew went out for a half a day search for James, we were again successful in that we didn't really find anything while primarily searching along the river, along a stream or two, and in the woods around the police orange-taped areas.  A couple of observations.

a) The Pine River seems fairly shallow, it may go above head level around some corners, but those are small areas with a quick flow.  The likelihood he drowned while getting away from the rat race seems remote, even if he was trying.

b) More areas had pink ribbons of secondary searches than I saw in our previous outing, but due to the overgrowth of the terrain there are still some areas near the van's location (within two miles) that could have been overlooked.

c)  The knowledge that James did not end his life while in the open anywhere immediately around his van, makes us hopeful that his urgency to hide himself was deliberative and indicates he may have made a deliberative choice to stay alive.

Your a good guy for helping out X. Has any thought been given to the idea that he was picked up at that spot and left the area with other individuals?  If he is presumed dead then shouldn't the police employ cadaver dogs? If not that then blood hounds if he is still alive? It seems that the police should be doing more to close this case. 

Being picked up by another vehicle would explain why the scent trail could not be followed.  Good tracking and trailing dogs can pick up scents over a week old and track fairly reliably, even if James crossed the river at some point.  The conditions weren't totally favorable, but if the police were willing to bring a good bloodhound out to the site, I think they should have found him if he was there. 

But, I don't think there was good police action here.  The Oceana Sheriff doesn't have a K-9 unit, and hasn't given the public any updates after the first couple days, and only before the van was found.  Did they cut corners and use an inferior dog borrowed from some other agency not specifically trained for cold searches (or ever use a cadaver dog?), and give up when they couldn't find anything?  I don't know, but they have not shown me any sort of initiative or enthusiasm for finding this missing father of eight in an area two counties away. 

I would not be surprised if the Hepworth family reached the same conclusion, but my opinion is that law enforcement have dropped the ball.    I will be hoping to get more answers soon.

Well, last I knew I thought MCSO and Kim Cole had one, to replace the old one that retired/died. That's not a Bloodhound, but I thought a German Shepherd, that are also good if trained in that area. Also, must be some Bloodhounds in this area trained, and could be hired, aren't there? 

Still nothing on this gentleman? It seems suspicious that he would dissapear and leave behind his kids...even with mental health issues.

One hour ago, James' wife placed this up on 'Finding James Hepworth' Facebook page:  "In one hour, it will be exactly 3 months since James walked out of work and walked out of our lives. My heart and mind has been all over the place pondering what happened and where is he now.

I am thankful for all of you who have supported my family these three months whether it was your thoughts, prayers or through donations. They have all helped soften the burden placed upon me and made it easier for me to keep life going smoothly as possible for my children. I cannot ex...press my appreciation to all of you. It has been a very humbling experience for me. I could not have gotten to where I am without all of you.

I am still no closer to finding James than I was 3 months ago but I have grown much in my confidence I can do this. I can take care of my children and I can give them a good life 3 months ago I thought I would need closure in order to heal and move on. Truth is , not everyone will get closure but time doesn't stop. You adapt and make adjustments. As Robert Frost stated that these three words summons up Life: It Goes On.

I will always be searching for you James. Always look at people's faces, always look through the woods for a bodily figure , always smell for your scent of tobacco, you will always be in my mind and heart. It's time tho to focus more so on the rest of my life. I have a lot of responsibility that needs my 110%.

May all of you have a great November. Be sure to be kind and sweet to others. A little more love ❤️ is always good for your heart and it helps make the world a better place."

I do hope to go out again to look around the area where his car was found at least once between November 9-14, weather permitting, and will at some point FOIA the Oceana County Sheriff's Office to see whether they may have anything significant in their investigation.  His wife and kids deserve some sort of answer to his fate.

Wait till the 15th.  All those guys in orange are one hell of a search team on state land. 

Your right about that Robert. 

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