"I don't think they should be prosecuted, but they should be billed for the expense"
Why don't you go back and compute that cost, and return to this thread once you've come up with a defensable figure.
Thanks for your "input".
You, anchor, are being a jerk. You're asking for information that is not available to the general public (ie total number of hours spent) but is readily available to the agencies engaged in the rescue operation, but I'll tell you how to calculate it. Bill the SAR workers' time at $20/hour. Bill the helo time at $1400 an hour, bill any ground vehicles at $.47 per mile; multiply the number of hours spent, miles driven, etc by the appropriate dollar amount and add it up - not a particularly difficult task if you have the records, which I'm sure the agencies involved do.
Because I don't feel like it, that's why. It's a lot of money to be sure. The exact sum isn't important to this conversation.