On Wednesday, Lancaster County Coroner Karla Deese announced her office’s new Mounted Response Unit, or MRU.
It’s exactly as it sounds – a rescue and recovery unit on horseback.
And if the idea of a coroner’s office operating a mounted unit sounds unique to you, you’re right.
“We’re the first ones in the United States that we know of,” Deese said Wednesday. “We have not found another coroner's office-based mounted response unit. Hopefully this sets a tone, because animals are incredible.
The idea began last February, when officials in Lancaster County went searching for a man who had been missing for almost three weeks.
“In the initial phase of that search for him, we were in pretty rough terrain,” Deese said. “We needed to cover the wooded areas, which had a lot of steep hills that were untouched by man. So, it was not very penetrable by foot or by ATV or UTV.”
Horses, however, have the advantage of long legs and sure feet and can get through terrain that people can’t – at least not without risking ruining evidence.
“[We’re] talking about areas that are heavily inundated with briars and thorns,” she said. “And do you want to cut away, not knowing if you're standing right over a crime scene or part of a crime scene?”
Or, as is the case right now, in January, searchers might be able to get across the ground well enough, but come across a body of water.
“It may not be deep, but it's wide.,” Deese said. “And it's 21 degrees outside, and you don't happen to have hip waders on you. How are you going to get across there? It's easy. You just tell your horse team, ‘Hey, send a horse out to me.’”
The horses are retired, rehabilitated workhorses whose powerful legs and protective coats of thick hair make for excellent protection in bramble and thorny landscapes.
“They can go through that terrain, briars, anything, that would normally cut [the legs of] slick quarter horses,” she said. “It's not going to cut these guys like that.”
Rescue dogs are also being trained to ride on the backs of the horses to help searchers in areas dogs otherwise would not be able to reach.
Deese said the MRU will be made available to any search and recovery effort in the state, and possibly in neighboring Georgia and North Carolina.
The unit is being funded through public donations and does not affect the Lancaster County budget.
The team – horses, riders, and trainers – will be revealed publicly on Friday, Deese said.