About WSI
Board Members
Trey Werner
Trey Werner is the Founder/Executive Director of Wilderness Search Investigations (WSI), launched in 2021, which was created to help families find closure for missing outdoor enthusiasts after official searches are called off.
An industry vet, Trey has over 22 years of experience in search and rescue, first aid, and mountaineering and has served as a leader and in operations support for Snohomish County Search and Rescue in a variety of positions.
Trey has had many trainings and has certifications including, Search and Rescue Planning and Search Theory along with Search Management Systems, and he has had mountaineering first aid experience.
Besides running Wilderness Search Investigations, Trey is very active within his community and is a Ham radio operator for the Auxiliary Communications Service of Snohomish County and was a backcountry camp host for ten years with the US Forest Service.
Research
James Newlon
James (Jamie) Newlon serves as the research manager for Wilderness Search Investigations, where his commitment to locating missing persons was shaped by the disappearance of a close family friend while he was attending college in Colorado in 2007. Since 2013, he has conducted independent research into missing persons cases, guided by the principle that even the smallest details can contribute to bringing loved one’s home.
During the 2020 pandemic, James (Jamie) Newlon and a team of volunteers mobilized to support a missing persons case, organizing a large-scale search operation in Washington for a hiker who had been missing since 2017. To ensure effective coordination, he enlisted Trey Werner, a certified search and rescue manager and search planner, to assist in overseeing the operation.
While researching missing persons cases, James (Jamie) Newlon identified that many federal and state databases were poorly organized and often included cases unrelated to wilderness settings. To address this, he launched a multi-year initiative to create a comprehensive wilderness-focused database, providing detailed information to our team, nonprofits, law enforcement, investigators, and outdoor enthusiasts to aid in identifying search areas and uncovering potential clues.