The body of a missing College Station man was found this week in a pond near Bee Creek Park in South College Station. Investigators are waiting on results of an autopsy on Manuel Mariaca to give them a clue on how he died. A Bryan P.D. Mobile Command Center was utilized in that search mission.

It can be considered your best friend or your worst enemy. When you need it most -- often times -- it becomes the latter of the two.

“Whether it is a stand-off, a missing person, a wildfire, timing is of the essence,” said Dale Kubennka, GIS Coordinator for the city of Bryan.

Dale Kubennka knows this firsthand; it's the very reason he says it's critical for any search and rescue team to be on the same page. The Mobile Command Center is just one tool that helps provide relief, and can ultimately help buy time during emergency response efforts.

“Being able to gather data and make decisions and put them together in a timely manner is critical," he said.

It's been utilized in a number of active crime scenes since being brought in by the City of Bryan in 2007. College Station also has a Mobile Command Unit.

"For a city of our size, we are very fortunate to have the one that we do," said Kubennka. "Currently on the bus, we have information in our system for the entire state: road networks, county boundaries, cities, as well as imagery for the entire state."

During any active crime scene you'll find a team of trained professionals gathering information inside the mobile unit. It's equipped with satellites and GPS technology to track every move from search and rescue teams on the ground.
"Being able to capture and track the K-9 and the handler, we can get a closer picture of how much area may or may not have been covered in the search,” said Kubennka.

While the technology plays a pivotal role in any rescue operation -- it couldn't be executed without the people making the effort to find the answers.

“The data that we hold on this bus is a joint effort between coordinators with the city of Bryan, College station, Council of Governments, Brazos County and adjacent counties,” said Kubennka. “We all share data and use it jointly so if we're ever deployed to other counties, we have the information we need to get started.”

Investigators are waiting on results of an autopsy on Manuel Mariaca to give them a clue on how he died. A Bryan P.D. Mobile Command Center was utilized in that search mission. Both Mobile Command Units from the city of Bryan and College Station helped in the search for Manuel Mariaca this week.