Comrades, Civilians Search For Missing Fort Hood Soldier

Monday, June 11th 2007, 7:02 am

By: News On 6

FORT HOOD, Texas (AP) _ More than 500 soldiers and other searchers walked side-by-side Monday in scorching heat looking for any sign of a soldier lost nearly three days in the juniper-covered hills of the fort's training range.

Sgt. Lawrence G. Sprader, 25, told his commanders by cell phone that he was lost late Friday, after he was two hours overdue in a solo navigation training drill. He didn't indicate he was sick or distressed at the time, but his phone's battery has since died and searchers were worried that he had succumbed to the 90-plus degree heat.

The searchers took a four-hour break during the hottest part of the day Monday to ensure they wouldn't become ill, said Col. Diane Battaglia, a III Corps spokeswoman. A handful suffered heat exhaustion over the first two days of the search.

Besides searches on the ground, all-terrain vehicle operators and two Army Black Hawk helicopters were scanning the 15,000-acre training area day and night. By Monday afternoon, roughly 8,000 acres had been searched by ground troops, many of them Sprader's classmates in the leadership training academy.

``There's a possibility, especially with the heat index, that he probably was seeking shade, which is obviously compounding the search'' difficulty, Battaglia said.

Sprader, of Prince George, Va., had two canteens and a water backpack, and because of recent rains, there is surface water scattered on the rolling grassy hills of the training range, she said. Health officials told searchers an individual like Sprader could probably survive four days without water.

Dehydration wasn't the only concern. Searchers said they were also worried that Sprader may have suffered a snake bite or other injuries that would immobilize him.

Battaglia said officials have no reason to believe Sprader intentionally disappeared. Other soldiers saw him on the course during the exercise, and fellow students and commanders said he was a model soldier, recently promoted to sergeant.

Sprader was participating in leadership training for noncommissioned officers. Part of that training was a solo navigational exercise designed to test basic map-reading and navigation skills. Typically, the soldier is given four points to find over a grid and has three hours to complete the exercise.

Nine of the 318 other soldiers who went on the exercise got lost, which is typical, Battaglia said. Sprader was the only one who didn't return when sirens signaled the end of the exercise.

When Sprader didn't return, his commanders reached him on his cell phone. He said he was lost but didn't indicate he was in trouble. He told commanders he wanted to complete the course even though time was up.

His phone battery has since died, and there are not enough cellular towers in the area to triangulate his position, Battaglia said.

An initial search began Friday and was expanded over the weekend. On Sunday, nearly 800 people were involved in the search, but it was ramped down Monday ``because we're also training for a war,'' Battaglia said.

Still, she said, ``We're very bound and determined to continue this effort and find this soldier.''

Because it's a training range, many of the things that are found _ old flashlights, pieces of clothing, first aid kits _ are of no use. They are all being plotted by global-positioning systems, though.

``You're going to run across all kinds of things,'' said Sgt. Andrew Samarripa, the director of the fort's emergency services department.

By late Monday afternoon, none of the objects found were confirmed to have belonged to Sprader.

His parents were expected to arrive from Virginia on Monday, she said.