Tracking Step by Step...
Joel Hardin Professional Tracking Services
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Joel Hardin
Sign Cutter, Chief Instructor, Program Administrator
Joel completed 25 years with the U.S. Border Patrol in September of 1990 and resigned to enable full-time devotion to tracking training and consultation. His tracking mentor was and is master tracker Albert “Ab” Taylor, to whom he credits the inspiration of thirty years progressive training program development and success. He is fortunate to have participated in numerous significant criminal investigations and missing person searches that attracted wide media attention. He has produced primary evidence in such investigations as the “Green River Serial Murders,” fleeing fugitive and escapee incidents, and international missing person searches in Mexico, Australia, Peru, Canada, Alaska, and many other western states of the United States. He has testified on numerous occasions in criminal court proceedings and has been recognized as a tracking expert by federal and state court systems. He assisted the National Search and Rescue Association (NASAR) and other institutions in development of tracking standards and certifications. This Tracking Services program today is the evolution of Joel’s thirty-five years of tracking training experience with search and rescue, law enforcement, industrial security, and the military.
Advisors / Instructors
Preston L. “Pres” Funkhouser, Sign Cutter, Primary Instructor
Pres is a retired U.S. Army Colonel with experience in Counter Intelligence, Survival, and Anti-Terrorism at all levels including Command positions. Colonel Funkhouser was assigned as the first Director of Colonel Rowe's Survival, Evasion, Resistance, and Escape (SERE) training facility at Ft. Bragg. He holds an M.A. in Political Science and a B.S. in Industrial Management, has several foreign language capabilities, and has served as the U.S. Army Attaché to the U.S. Embassy in Oslo, Norway. Pres was assigned as a special advisor on counter-terrorism to police agencies during the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles, again in 1988 for the Korean Summer Olympics, and for the 1994 Winter Olympics.
Retired, Pres provides private investigative services for fraud and welfare background investigations, due diligence checks, and risk management assessments for industrial espionage. He has been associated with the Joel Hardin tracking program since being instrumental in providing tracking training for the SERE School in 1987. Pres was trained as a professional presenter and brings that education and experience to our program. He is a primary instructor and assists in tracking presentations at all levels throughout the United States. Pres is an active tracking trainer and participant with the Idaho County, Idaho SAR group and as such consults and takes an active part in numerous missing person incidents and/or crime scene investigations each year.
Rodney “Seaux” Larreau, Military Tracker, Special Advisor, Instructor
Seaux, as he is known among his compatriots in the U.S. Military Special Forces, has completed twenty years of military service and is one of the most respected and decorated Special Forces Sergeants First Class. He is a qualified instructor of all Special Forces tactics, operations, and techniques and is language capable in several European languages.
Seaux received an Army Merit Award for conversion of the 10th Special Forces Tactical Interdiction (SOTIC) training manuals and practice to utilize JHPTS tracking training methods, manners, and techniques. Seaux has been a Joel Hardin program associate since 1993. During a 2002 rotational assignment to Afghanistan he coordinated and conducted a special tracking training program for more than one hundred Special Forces personnel from all branches of allied military Services.
Currently Seaux is stateside with his unit, recently rotated back from the Middle East conflict and reassigned to 10th Group at Ft. Carson in Colorado. He participates with JHPTS instructors in presentation of training courses and is engaged with his unit in tracking training of other military units. Seaux extends to all trackers the assurance that the JHPTS training program is paying huge dividends daily in keeping allied forces safe while enabling the discovery of enemy militants. Seaux is a Special Advisor and contributor to this program regarding military tracking topics.
Robert “Bob” Brady, Sign Cutter, Instructor
Bob has been a faithful participant of the Joel Hardin training program for nearly fifteen years. Bob is the Vice-President of Snohomish County SAR, and the tracking trainer for that group. The Sheriff's Office requested that Bob design, develop, and lead a special tracking training program for their SWAT team members. He works as a commissioned Reserve Police Officer for the Granite Falls Police Department and a team member and instructor for the Snohomish County Sheriff's Office tactical tracking team. He regularly responds to criminal investigations and wanted person searches.
Bob participates with the JHPTS training program as often as possible during the year as an instructor, consultant, and special advisor, traveling throughout the United States and foreign countries. Bob is a respected professional tracking member and executive officer of 1st Special Response Group, and in that capacity has traveled as a team member to foreign ports and places to effect successful missions. Bob explores other major tracking programs available in the U.S. in a continuing effort to be fully informed and knowledgeable of possible techniques and practices to increase his personal and professional knowledge and skill.
Marvin "Marv" Pillers, Sign Cutter, Instructor
Marv first watched Joel demonstrate the "Step-by-Step Tracking" method in 1979 at a Washington State SAR Conference and was hooked on the effectiveness of tracking in search and rescue. He has followed that method of tracking training ever since, obtaining his Sign Cutter certification from JHPTS in 2005. Marv is President of the Idaho State Trackers Association and the senior tracking trainer for that regional group of trackers. Marv also volunteers as a SAR Deputy and primary SAR Coordinator for Latah County Sheriff's Office in north Idaho, as well as being their most experienced tracker. Several law enforcement agencies in Latah County, Idaho, and Whitman County, Washington have used him on crime scene investigations as well as search and rescue incidents.
Marv works as the Technology Coordinator and Systems Administrator for two school districts in Eastern Washington as his primary employment. He is also a volunteer EMT with the Palouse EMS Unit and serves as the Captain and Training Officer for the Palouse Fire Department in his hometown. He teaches many classes in his region, including the Emergency Response International "Managing Land Search Operations" course.
Marv works as an instructor with the JHPTS
training program whenever possible and also serves as instructor for
regional, in-house tracking classes hosted each year by Idaho State
Trackers.
Sharon Ward, Sign Cutter, Special Advisor, Instructor
Sharon has been a member of the Joel Hardin tracking program since
1999. In addition to her membership in JHPTS, she serves as a Senior
Coordinator for Cowlitz County Search and Rescue and as the Training
Officer for Pacific Crest Search Dogs. Both organizations are
Washington State search and rescue teams.
Sharon is a founder and a
director of the Washington State Trackers Association, an association of
certified JHPTS trackers who respond to missing person searches and
crime scene investigations, upon request by state or federal agencies.
In addition, Sharon is an operational member of the international
search and rescue team, 1st Special Response Group.
In her position as an instructor for JHPTS, Sharon teaches SAR and LE
tracking, and has trained US Special Forces units tracking techniques,
especially with regard to using canines and trackers together in the
field. Sharon is an attorney by trade, who, for the last 25 years, has
specialized in legal issues facing non-profit organizations. She
regularly lectures at Search and Rescue conferences and to search and
rescue groups about managing legal risks and avoiding legal liability.
Sharon is a tracker and a canine handler. She uses both resources, as
appropriate, simultaneously in the field to find missing persons and to
assist law enforcement with crime scene evidence. She regularly serves
as an instructor for JHPTS, especially with regard to SAR Law and with
working canines and trackers together for optimal efficiency and
success.
Kathleen Decker, Sign Cutter, Instructor
Kathy joined the King County
(Washington) Sheriff’s Department as a Deputy in 1985. She rose to the
rank of Detective and has over 13 years experience working in the King
County Sheriff’s Major Crime Unit, where she specialized in Homicide
investigation. Kathy holds a BA degree in Criminal Justice from
Washington State University.
Kathy has investigated and worked many crime scenes, providing tracking
expertise and examination. As a result of her work on crime scenes she
has testified as an expert witness, presenting tracking evidence.
Currently Kathy is King County’s SAR Coordinator, managing over 600 SAR
volunteers for the King County Sheriff’s Department. She has been
associated with the Joel Hardin tracking program since 1998, regularly
providing introductory tracker training to law enforcement and the
prosecutor’s office. Kathy is also a member of the 1st
Special Response Group and has traveled internationally, as an
operational 1SRG member, tracker, and crime scene investigator.
Kathy has also provided forensic photo analysis and testimony, based
solely on crime scene photographs. She provides instruction to law
enforcement on the identification and processing of outdoor crime
scenes.
Kathy's background in criminal investigations and her experience in
managing and coordinating have also been used on missing person cases.
Dick Wilker, Sign Cutter, Instructor
Dick Wilker first met Joel
Hardin along with Ab Taylor at a tracking class in Buckley, WA in 1983.
The course was conducted for the then newly formed Pacific Northwest
Trackers Association. Dick was instrumental in the transition of
Pacific Northwest Trackers from a hobby tracking club to a fully
functioning search and rescue unit specializing in tracking for King
County, WA. During the following years Dick has continued to pursue his
passion for tracking, participating in lost person searches and
remaining an active member of Northwest Trackers for over 25 years. He
is currently the Training Director, Membership Chairman and Treasurer
for the group.
As his experience and confidence has increased, his role as a tracker
has expanded from lost person searches to include crime scene
investigations. He has attended several crime scenes for King County
including murder and arson cases. His experience includes examination
of both indoor and outdoor scenes for footprint evidence regarding
subject movement/activities. He has also developed an unexpected liking
for writing reports for inclusion to the case files. He has been a
part of the JHPTS instructor staff for many years, traveling throughout
the region to assist with classes and especially enjoys working with new
students to help them understand what they are seeing.
Dick is an Engineer for the Kenworth Truck Company has been with
Kenworth for over 30 years and has worked in virtually every area of the
truck design process. He is currently assigned as a Liaison Engineer
where he enjoys the challenge of solving truck-down situations as well
as dealing with customer, factory and warranty issues.
Dave Hake, Sign Cutter, Instructor
David Hake has been in Search
and Rescue for over 12 years with Larimer County Search and Rescue (LCSAR)
in Fort Collins, CO. He is a Search Manager, Rescue rated and past
Rescue Leader, Snow rated and past Snow Rescue Leader, Tracking Team
Leader and Tracking instructor with LCSAR. He was one of five trackers
who founded Rocky Mountain Trackers (RMT) in 2005 to help promote
tracking and dispatch trackers around the region. He’s currently the
Field Coordinator and a Tracking Team Leader for RMT. He has completed
a 48 hour Evidence Specialist training through Larimer County Sheriff’s
Office. He started his Step-by-Step tracking training with Joel in 1999
and has continued to build and promote tracking as a valuable resource
ever since. He’s assisted with tracking classes for Search and Rescue,
Law Enforcement and Military around the country for JHPTS and loves to
help bring new trackers into this great family.
To attempt to support his passion for tracking, he owns his own
Electrical Contractor business (Daveco) and has been in the electrical
field for over 30 years. He also has an endless supply of emotional
support from his wife Shannon.
Remy Newcombe, Journeyman, Instructor
Remy has been a SAR volunteer in northern Idaho for 10 years, contributing as a tracker on search and rescue and crime scene incidents throughout the northwest. She has been a tracking instructor for 7 years, teaching novice to intermediate students at JHPTS courses and at regional, in-house courses sponsored by the Idaho State Trackers Association.
Remy is a Search Manager for Kootenai County SAR in Idaho, a management team member of 1st Special Response Group, a past president of the Idaho State Trackers Association, and a first responder for hazardous waste operations. Remy’s primary occupation is Co-Founder and Chief Technology Officer for a water treatment technology company. She holds a doctorate in Civil Engineering and occasionally teaches college courses in environmental engineering, water and wastewater treatment, and risk assessment.