Fire chief: Actions during search are ‘shining example’
MARYVILLE, Mo. — The Alpha Gamma Rho fraternity at Northwest Missouri State University was awarded the Outstanding Public Service Award on Monday by the city of Maryville for its members’ assistance during a search for a missing person in December.
On Dec. 3, 2023, law enforcement and emergency personnel across the county were mobilized to search for an elderly woman who had been reported missing from a local elder care facility. While the Maryville Fire Department led part of the search near the corner of Third and Depot streets, where the Alpha Gamma Rho house is located, members of the fraternity asked Jace Pine, now the Maryville fire chief, if they could help out. He said yes, and gave them a search area.
“Right in front of my eyes, I watched the group organize into small teams and deploy without hesitation,” Pine recounted Monday.
Although the woman was ultimately found by a different search team, Pine said the fraternity’s members made an “invaluable” contribution by not only completing their initial search area, but moving on to another afterward.
