http://www.chron.com/houston/article/Equusearch-assisting-in-search-for-missing-Iraq-5761677.php
Equusearch assisting in search for missing Iraq War vet
By Craig Hlavaty | September 17, 2014 | Updated: September 17, 2014 11:37am


Erica Odom, 27, has been missing since the early morning hours of Sept. 13, according to officials and family. She was last seen at a hotel in the 17700 block of the Southwest Freeway where she was living with her boyfriend.

The Houston-based Texas Equusearch group is assisting in the search of a missing U.S. Army veteran.

Erica Odom, 27, has been missing since the early morning hours of Sept. 13, according to officials and family. She was last seen at a hotel in the 17700 block of the Southwest Freeway where she was living with her boyfriend.

She is an Iraq War veteran who was medically-discharged due to illness.

Frank Black with Equusearch said that they will begin their search in the Humble area this afternoon near the 6600 block of Rankin Road. They are using The Lighthouse Church as a staging area for their work, Black said.

According to Black there is an interest in a wooded area and creek nearby. They are going on foot and ATVs to scour the area for signs of Odom.

Odom's family is assisting Equusearch in the operation. Black said he has learned that Odom and her boyfriend had been arguing just before she went missing.

Sheila Holder, Odom's grandmother, is at the church with Odom's extended family and others working on fliers to put out in the area.

"I received a phone call from her on Thursday night that her boyfriend had hit her, and that was the last I heard from her," says Holder. She says that they made tentative plans to meet up if things further escalated.

Joseph Hickman, her boyfriend, called Holder on Monday to say that Odom was missing, which is troubling to Holder. She says he's currently at the hotel where Odom was last seen.

Her granddaughter doesn't have a cellphone, according to Holder, so there is no way to ping for her whereabouts.

"She went to Iraq for six or eight months and they found she had ovarian cancer, along with PTSD, and she was sent home," Holder said. Since her return home and beating cancer, Holder says that Odom had some difficulties adjusting.

Texas EquuSearch: Missing Iraq War veteran found at hospital
Updated On: Sep 17 2014 07:35:28 PM CDT
http://www.click2houston.com/news/texas-equusearch-looking-for-27yearold-iraq-war-veteran/28106298

HOUSTON -
A Texas search and rescue organization says they have found a missing U.S. Army veteran.

Concern was high Wednesday afternoon as a fifth day was passing without signs of 27-year-old Erica Odom, a missing Iraq War veteran, mother and cancer survivor.
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