NATCHEZ — For every person Curtis Gibson and the Adams County Search and Rescue Unit has found, there are many people who never made it back to their friends and family.

The unfortunate reality, Gibson said, is all part of the job.

“I’ve gone on searches where no one was ever found, and it’s saddening because you feel like you must bring closure to a family who wants to know what happened,” Gibson said. “And I’ve been on searches for lost children where we found each and every one of them and brought them back to their families.

“Where there’s a happy smiling face on one side, there’s a sadness on the other side.”

The Natchez native, 75, joined the unit in 2005 when it was first created by the Adams County Sheriff’s Office.

The unit works under the direction of the sheriff’s office and the Adams County Emergency Management director to handle a variety of calls, ranging from storm damage assessments to drowning or missing adults and children.

The all-volunteer group, which make themselves available 24 hours a day, seven days a week, is also trained to handle detailed evidence searches for the sheriff’s office.

“There was an incident where an elderly gentleman wandered away from his nursing home, and there was a group organized to go look for him, and I joined that group,” Gibson said. “Unfortunately, we did not find him, but that’s what peaked my interest in joining the search and rescue group.”

Since joining the organization, Gibson has participated in a variety of searches and rescue operations ranging from providing assistance at events such as the Great Mississippi River Balloon Race and the Phatwater Kayak Challenge to searching for missing people throughout the community.

During this year’s kayak race, Gibson said he and the unit spent nearly 12 hours on the river in the unit’s boat ensuring all the kayakers completed the race safely.

“We got in the river at 5:20 a.m., and we didn’t come out of the river until after 5 that afternoon, so that was a long day of sitting in a boat,” Gibson said. “But I wouldn’t trade it for anything.”

Gibson, who is a retired minister from the United Methodist Church, said another memorable moment with the unit came recently when his ministerial duties were combined with his search and rescue duties.

“There was a family who came up from south of Natchez, and they had a family member cremated and it was his request to put his ashes under the bridge in the river because he was a long-time commercial fisherman,” Gibson said. “We carried the family under the bridge, I did the full funeral service with all the prayers and burial services, and the family poured the ashes over the side of the boat.

“That stands out above all the things we’ve done.”

And even as his 76th birthday nears within two weeks, Gibson said he will continue to volunteer his time to the unit.

“I will continue as long as my physical health permits,” Gibson said. “You can do everything for yourself, but you can’t see the joy and pleasure unless you see it reflecting in the eyes of someone you’ve helped.”