The formation of a volunteer search-and- rescue team serving Western New York was announced Saturday by Erie County Sheriff Timothy B. Howard and state Department of Environmental Conservation rangers.

Approximately 20 volunteers on the newly formed Niagara Frontier Search& Rescue Team have been trained to help law enforcement and public safety agencies search for missing or lost persons.

“The impetus in helping to form this organization began three years ago, when our office was investigating the disappearance of several people, including two elderly women from the Southtowns who were ultimately found deceased in a barn in Colden,” Howard said in a prepared statement.

The volunteers on the Niagara Frontier Search&Rescue Team were trained by the Erie County Sheriff’s Department, the state DEC Forest Rangers, the state Federation of Search&Rescue Teams and the National Association of Search& Rescue.