How To Volunteer For Massive Joe Clyde Daniels Search

CHARLOTTE, TN -- The largest search yet for the body of 5-year-old Joe Clyde Daniels is scheduled for Saturday, May 19, and the Dickson County Sheriff wants hundreds of volunteers to scour the area to find the still missing little boy.

The sheriff's office needs volunteers aged 18 or older to search on Saturday, May 19. Those wanting to volunteer should click here to fill out a form on the DCSO website and sign a disclosure.

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Volunteers will meet at 7 a.m. at Dickson County High School at 509 Henslee Drive (U.S. Highway 70). If Dickson County High School's graduation ceremony is canceled Friday night and rescheduled for Saturday morning, the staging/registration area will move to the parking lot of Crosspoint Church, next door to the YMCA, also on Highway 70.

Each person will be assigned a team, board a bus and head to the search area. If family members or friends wish to search together, they should submit paperwork at the same time and those requests will be accommodated if possible.

The sheriff's office anticipates the search to take all day and volunteers should be capable of navigating hills, fences, brush, briers, streams and areas of mud to maximize the search effort.

"All volunteers are asked to please remember, if found, Joe Clyde Daniels will not resemble the beautiful, blonde haired child we have seen in photographs," the department wrote. "Please make sure you can endure what you might find."

All volunteers should have appropriate footwear for climbing up and down hills, crossing small streams and walking through mud. Neither flip-flops or sandals should be worn. Volunteers should layer clothing appropriate for the forecast and the department encourages long pants and gloves.

Searchers should bring a small backpack with sunscreen, tick repellant, water and snacks. Additional water, snacks and lunch will be delivered throughout the day. Walking sticks are encouraged.

Because it's an active criminal investigation, the taking of photos and videos is strictly prohibited and volunteers will not be allowed to bring cellphones or cameras.

Joe Clyde Daniels was reported missing by his parents from their home in rural Dickson County northwest of Nashville the morning of April 4, launching a massive search utilizing hundreds of volunteers and law enforcement officers. The boy's father, Joe Daniels, was arrested April 7, charged with beating his son to death and hiding his body. His mother, Krystal Daniels, was arrested two days later, charged with aggravated child neglect.

Joe Daniels did not initially offer detectives any tips as to where the body was, though that has changed in recent weeks, although none of the locations he's offered have "panned out," investigators say.

Photo via Tennessee Bureau of Investigation