A Master Plan

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So the ground team included the FBI, TBI (Tennessee Bureau of Information), Blount County Sheriff’s Department, Blount County Fire Department, Blount County Search, and Rescue Team. Even the Blount County Chief Deputy Jeff French took an active part in this search for the lost boy. All these people were divided into groups to peeked in every nook and cranny just in case Kaydon was there…

Split Into Teams
Rescue and Search Teams

Marian O’Briant who is actually the spokeswoman for the Blount County Sheriff’s Office, informed in an interview she gave to WVLT News that with the help of the military, the ground search teams would be able to look for Kaydon the whole night.  They were willing to do everything if it meant they would find out Kaydon’s whereabouts. However, this does not mean that there were no other people searching elsewhere.

A Few Other Helpers

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The local community when they heard about Kaydon’s disappearance quickly jumped in to help his parents find them. The Blount County Emergency Services broadcast an IPAWS (Integrated Public Alert & Warning System) message that was meant to somehow help in this widespread search for the missing boy. It happened just a few hours later so that they could inform everyone about the case and its updates…

Getting Broadcast
Search and Rescue Volunteers

By the time the local community members read the message that had been broadcast, they knew very well that this was not the time to just loiter around. A young boy’s life was hanging by a thread as his parents do not even know where he is. Anything could happen to him. After realizing that this could happen to their kids or their grandkids, they felt emotional so they wanted to help right away.

Using Smartphone Apps

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So the Blount County community then received the IPAWS message. The word about the little boy soon circulated via a smartphone application called Next Door. If you do not know this, it is a private social network for neighborhoods where information and news can be spread effectively. Even though there were some who could not help individually with Kaydon Leach’s search, they did all they could too…

A Close-Knit Community
Next Door Application

The whole community is very close, were committed to locating Kaydon no matter how long it took. One of the people who volunteered to help look for him explained to the WVLT News: “We’re a very tight community. We try to help everyone. I got a phone call about what was going on. I was coming up the mountain from work and just shot straight over and did everything I could to help.”