Luis Herrera is a Texas EquuSearch volunteer.

"If somebody was missing in my family I'd want them looking for them too," Herrera said.

Only 17, Herrera is trained to use high definition sonar equipment for water searches. He was called in Wednesday to man a boat down the Navasota River.

"This is the reason I came down here to run this river,but we think we're just going to walk down the shore and see what we can see," Herrera said.

The non-profit search and recovery organization was contacted by Byron Freeman's family in California, after a local investigation turned up few leads.

"Their 70-year-old uncle had come to the area for a high school reunion and went missing in this area," Cindy Windom with Texas EquuSearch said.

Freeman, who's believed to suffer from dementia or Alzheimer's disease, was last seen Saturday, June 24th in Elkhart. Authorities believe he left the area that afternoon and headed to Robertson County.

Authorities say Freeman's car was found in Robertson County. Officials believe he left his car and walked north on Highway 79 towards Marquez.

It's there volunteers met Wednesday morning for a search meeting.
After the meeting, the team unloaded four wheelers and searched up and down Highway 79.

"We're just taking time out of our day to try and help someone else and hopefully we'll be able to find him and give his family a good state of mind," T.J. Foley with the Marquez Volunteer Fire Department said.

But, volunteers know the odds are against them.

"Best case scenario is we'll find him in the next two days and we'll be able to give his family some closure and we'll be going to California for a funeral," Windom said.

And for Luis, a newcomer to the recovery team, a find that doesn't go well is never easy.

"Once you find it it's very rough you know you get to tell the family and it's very hard you don't want to be there but you have to," Herrera said.

Freeman is described as a black man, wearing a light green jumpsuit. He may be suffering from dementia or the beginning stages of Alzheimer's disease.
If you have any information, contact the Robertson County Sheriff's Office at 828-3299.
EquuSearch will continue their search on Thursday.