Just days after training for such an event, a search and rescue team found a missing Batesville woman minutes after beginning a ground search.

Panola County Search and Rescue located a 76-year-old woman Tuesday night after a 20-minute search of woods near Pine Lodge Road.

The woman, who suffers from Alzheimer’s, had driven her car there, gotten out, and wandered off, said Chief Deputy Craig Sheley with the Panola County Sheriff’s Department.

Sheley would not release the name of the woman for privacy reasons.

Last weekend, search and rescue members trained with a DeSoto County unit at the Pecan Grove, which is located behind Batesville Intermediate School, as well as other locations around the county.

Three days later, searchers put their practice to work after a sheriff’s deputy located the woman’s abandoned vehicle in a pasture.

The deputy found the car only after OnStar activated the car horn, the chief deputy said.

"OnStar gave us the location, but even then it was hard to find," Sheley said. "It was off the road and stuck in the pasture."

With the car located, Miss. Highway Patrolman Dennis Darby and his canine searched approximately 30 minutes for the missing woman but were unsuccessful.

Search teams then fanned out, locating the missing woman at the edge of the woods, Sheley said.

The woman was unharmed, he said.

Sheley said Sheriff David Bryan re-organized the all-volunteer search and rescue unit last July. An earlier unit had failed to get off the ground, he said.

The Batesville unit of the Mississippi National Guard is putting forth a collective effort to keep the memory of one of its founding fathers alive.

Sgt. First Class John Ard said he and other members of the guard are working to have the newly constructed Readiness Center on Keating Road renamed in honor of Sgt. Maj. L.M. "Kay" Goforth.

"At this point in time this effort is in the preliminary stages," he said.

First the city and county must adopt a resolution of support, then letters of community support must be presented to a committee.

"Any time something like this goes up, it has to go to a commemorative committee in Jackson," he said. "They have the final approval on this matter.

"We just want the community to know that there is something being done to honor the memory of Kay Goforth," Ard added. "We wanted to do something that could honor everything he has meant to the guard."

If the committee votes to allow the naming of the Readiness Center, a plaque or statuette will be placed in the facility.

"All funds for the plaque or statuette must come from private donations," Ard said.

Ard said one of the biggest reasons for this project is because of Goforth’s dedication to the Batesville National Guard unit.

"Kay Goforth was the first full-time National Guardsman in the City of Batesville," he said. "He is responsible for building the guard in south Panola county into what it is today."

Ard said he and several other guardsmen felt like Goforth was one of the most even-tempered individuals they ever met.

"I think I saw Kay mad a total of three times since I was old enough to start going up to the armory with my dad," he said. "This man was a soldier’s soldier, and I owe my military career to him.

"A lot of the military values I have now, I have because of Kay Goforth, and I want to thank him for that," he said. "In a lot of ways, he was like a second father to me."

Ard said while there have been many full-time guardsmen in Batesville since Goforth’s retirement in 1987, there has never been one that could take his place.

"I honestly don’t believe there will be a soldier that can ever take Kay Goforth’s place," he said. "He was a good man that would do anything for anybody, and nobody will ever fill his shoes.

"He had so much wisdom about him," Ard said. "He was anxious to pass that on, and he always treated every soldier he came across with the same level of respect."

Ard said he realizes that most of the old armories and the new Readiness Centers are named for generals, but he feels like Goforth is just as deserving of the honor.

"Kay Goforth may be the best enlisted man to ever come through Batesville," he said. "I feel like his military record during his 32 years of service speaks for itself, and I am confident this effort will be a successful one."

During Goforth’s 32- year career, he took part in several conflicts including one that shaped Mississippi’s future.

Goforth and other members of the Batesville unit were called to duty during 1962 to help restore order on the Ole Miss campus during the admission of James Meredeth, the school’s first black student.