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Family of missing SMU professor Charles Hosch brings in project managers as Georgia search shifts to new phase

The family of missing Dallas attorney and Southern Methodist University adjunct law professor Charles Hosch has recruited project managers to help lead the next phase of the search, as they prepare to meet with officials in Union County, Georgia, on Monday. 

Hosch, 67, vanished on Veterans' Day while hiking in the mountains of northern Georgia.

"We have worked with the sheriff and the fire chief to locate two folks actually, who will be helping us project manage that for the coming weeks," his daughter, Julia Hosch-Singh, said.

Emergency officials are expected to brief the newly formed team on everything done since Hosch disappeared near the Byron Herbert Reece Trail, where he was last seen descending Blood Mountain. The trails are familiar to him, his family noted.

After two weeks of intensive searching, Union County suspended its official efforts on Nov. 24, though Hosch's family praised crews for their commitment. 

"It's not a whole lot in the grand scheme of finding dad," Hosch-Singh said. "And so while their job as doing this, pursuing it basically full-time has closed, ours has not."

As the family weighs next steps, officials have provided contact suggestions to guide upcoming private search efforts. The case remains open.

The Hosch family has also launched a website, bringcharleshome.com, which is linked to Hosch's Dallas law firm and his law partner, Kate Morris. The family has been testing new drone technology as part of its continued attempts to locate him.

In the meantime, Hosch-Singh said the past days have been devastating for their mother and Hosch's wife, Beth. As the eldest of two daughters, she said she has watched her mother shoulder impossible decisions.

"You don't have confirmation that they died," she said. "You don't have confirmation that they're here with us. And watching my mother make really tough decisions."

The family is asking friends and colleagues who know Hosch to share stories through the new website as the search continues.

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