Missing plane - one mother's hope

More from my friend whose son is a part of the search and rescue team .... keep on prayin' and by the way, thank you to those who have chatted with me personally saying that you were keeping up with this story - I know it's not the normal thing to blog, but why not use this medium to share things of importance such as this - it's a global effort of prayer for these young men and their families. And yes, God still is in the miracle business so keep praying for one!! ko

Sent: Friday, November 21, 2008 5:47 AM
Subject: Nevrdun News - Prayer Request Update 24

We've had the opportunity to read quite a bit about Chris and Wes B. Here's an article about Patrick, the third of the missing men, from timestranscript.canadaeast.com . . .

Mom holds onto hope missing son will be found
Published Friday November 21st, 2008

Patrick Murphy, 20, missing after small plane crash in Guyana

By Adam Huras
Canadaeast News Service

The mother of a young Bathurst man is holding onto hope that her 20-year-old son will be rescued alive more than two weeks after the plane he was aboard went missing over the jungles of Guyana.

Patrick Murphy, a recent electrical engineering technology graduate of NBCC Moncton, was one of three men on board a US chartered aircraft which disappeared over dense Amazonian forest Nov. 2.

Murphy, an employee of Ontario-based Terraquest Ltd., was conducting geophysical surveys for Prometheus Resources Guyana Inc., when the twin-engine Beechcraft King Air plane he was on was last heard from.

"We just want to remain positive; we want people to continue their prayers because we truly believe that, through God, all things are possible," said Wendy Murphy, Patrick's mother. "We are waiting for them all to come home."

"What we are going through is very private, but it is very, very, very much appreciated -- all the prayers that are being given for the retrieval of all three boys."

Also on board were Americans James Wesley Barker, 28, and Chris Paris, 23, the captain and first officers of the plane.

Hope of their rescue appeared to narrow earlier this week when Guyana Civil Aviation suspended its search for the aircraft. Some 200 hours and 28,260 miles of aerial searching with no sighting of the plane prompted the government to end efforts. Guyana's Transportation Minister Robeson Benn said government teams had unsuccessfully scoured mountainous forests near the Venezuelan border.

But Dynamic Aviation, owners of the lost aircraft, and Terraquest Ltd. have now vowed to continue searching with no end date in sight. Steve Barrie, general manager of Terraquest said the search is continuing on the ground and in the air exploring "areas of interest," but did not elaborate on what that meant.

Murphy said knowledge that the search continues and other details not released publicly, amounts to the possibility of her son's safe return.
"There are a lot of details that you guys (the media) may not be privy to," Murphy said. "The Guyanese government has stopped their search, that's public knowledge, but the search continues regardless of the Guyanese government's involvement."

Search efforts were continuing as of yesterday.

Errol Persaud, department head of NBCC Moncton's engineering technology department, said Murphy's alma mater remains positive of his safe return home. Born in Guyana himself, Persaud said the Amazonian forest presents the capabilities for survival.

"The way the canopy is built down there, basically what happens is you have these tall trees and when an aircraft drops in, trees sort of open up and then closes up," Persaud said. "It's difficult to locate anything but, you know, if they survived the crash, there are plenty of things to eat, plenty of vegetation and it doesn't freeze at night like here."