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Title details for Back From the Deep by Doug Horner - Available

Back From the Deep

How Gene and Sandy Ralston Serve the Living by Finding the Dead

by Doug Horner
Wesley Scott
Audiobook
1 of 1 copy available
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1 of 1 copy available
The dramatic story of an unlikely search and recovery duo who help law enforcement and grieving families with their uncanny knack for locating bodies underwater
A powerful debut for fans of deeply reported stories that follow real people with obsessional passions, and of authors like Tracy Kidder, Sebastian Junger, and Patrick Radden Keefe
When the police and FBI exhaust their abilities and options, and when grieving families run out of resources, their last best hope has been an Idaho couple who have spent their retirement years pursuing lost causes — and have located 130 victims from lakes and rivers across the United States and Canada.
Gene and Sandy Ralston, a married Idaho couple in their mid 70s, are self-taught underwater search-and-recovery specialists who volunteer their time and equipment. And yet the Ralstons are counted among the best in the world. The Ralstons have an uncanny knack for finding bodies in deep water and can regularly find a missing person within hours, sometimes even minutes, of launching their boat.
Law enforcement and emergency response agencies seek out their peculiar expertise, but when the Ralstons' home phone rings it's usually a family member of a missing person. Someone reaching out after the local police and volunteer groups have called off the official search. Someone who heard from a friend of a friend about a couple from Idaho who will travel thousands of miles at the drop of a hat — charging only their travel costs — to help complete strangers.

  • Creators

  • Publisher

  • Release date

    March 12, 2024

  • Formats

    • OverDrive Listen audiobook

      • ISBN: 9781586423957
      • File size: 286406 KB
      • Duration: 09:56:40

  • Languages

    • English

  • Reviews

    • Kirkus

      January 1, 2024
      The story of an Idaho couple who have spent their retirement years searching for and recovering the bodies of drowning victims. In this debut book, Canadian writer and editor Horner chronicles how he joined the Ralstons on a number of recovery missions over a three-year period. Traveling in a motor home and hauling their specially equipped boat, the couple have covered much of the U.S. and Canada, using sonar to explore lakes and rivers for lost bodies. Despite a somewhat rambling presentation, the author provides a good general picture of how the Ralstons' technology works, but this narrative is less about tech than human interest: the story of the Ralstons and the people they have encountered during their missions. Sandy and Gene met on a college biology trip to Mexico and went on to work as environmental consultants and take part in scuba diving trips around the world. Later they built and raced jet boats. In 1996, when they lost a friend in a boating accident while surveying the Snake River, they found a new focus in life. After experiencing the loss of a friend, they found they were adept at connecting with the families and friends of those they were searching for. Working in concert with local police and the families of the missing, they use eyewitness evidence and other local knowledge to help them narrow their search patterns, but when it comes time to drop their sonar "torpedo" into the water and look for objects on the bottom, their expertise is the deciding factor. Not all their searches are successful--of the ones Horner was along for, only a couple yielded results--but their record, and their dedication, are truly impressive. A straightforward, inspiring look at two people doing demanding work to bring closure to the families of drowning victims.

      COPYRIGHT(2024) Kirkus Reviews, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

Formats

  • OverDrive Listen audiobook

subjects

Languages

  • English

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