Sheriff scales back search for man missing on Signal Mountain

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UPDATE: Marion County officials say they will not have searchers on the ground to look for a motorcycle rider who was reported missing early Monday until sheriff's investigators determine where efforts should focused.

Marion County Sheriff Ronnie "Bo" Burnett said authorities scaled back efforts this morning to a continuing patrol while detectives sort out the details of where 38-year-old Chad Cook broke down on his off-road motorcycle and where he was last seen.

Later this afternoon, Burnett said the Tennessee Highway Patrol might be able to assist with its helicopter.

"Right now we're just in a holding pattern because I've got two detectives doing some leg work to see if they can come up with some more information," Burnett said.

The search area between Edwards Point in Hamilton County and Big Fork in Marion County is so large searchers need a more precise location to be effective, Burnett said.

Marion County EMA director Steve Lamb said officials earlier today reviewed video footage from a drone on a large video screen to see if searchers missed anything.

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ORIGINAL STORY: Detectives have been assigned to the search for a man who went missing early Monday in a remote area of Signal Mountain, Marion County Sheriff Bo Burnett said this morning.

Investigators were called in to help determine how the series of events unfolded when 38-year-old Chad Cook went missing to get a better idea of where to search for him, Burnett said.

As officers and volunteers were preparing at daybreak to start searching again, Burnett said he hoped the rain would hold off.

Over the last 24 hours, search teams from Hamilton, Marion and Sequatchie counties have been canvassing the area for Cook who went missing around 2 a.m. Monday while riding off-road motorcycles in the Edwards Point area of Signal Mountain near the Hamilton-Marion-Sequatchie county lines.

After heavy storms hit the area overnight, rescue teams this morning resumed the search for Cook, whose dirt bike broke down. Cook hasn't been seen since, Hamilton County Emergency Services spokeswoman Amy Maxwell said Monday via email.

Officials found Cook's dirt bike but no trace of him.

On Monday, Walden's Ridge Emergency Services, Sequatchie County Sheriff's deputies started looking for Cook around 10:30 a.m., Maxwell said. Family members who reported Cook missing said he was riding with two other men and a woman from Edwards Point in Hamilton County to Big Fork on the border of Marion and Sequatchie counties, officials said.

The two men and the woman have been found.

Authorities say when he was last seen Cook was wearing orange and black leather pants and jacket.

The ordeal started on Sunday, Burnett said.

"Sometime Sunday the motorcycle broke down," the sheriff said. A couple of members of the group went to get a truck to retrieve the motorcycle but when they returned, they got separated from Cook and weren't able to find him, he said.

"We still don't know where he's at. It's a large area out there," Burnett said. He said Marion was getting help from its three neighboring counties.

Contact staff writer Ben Benton at bbenton@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6569.

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