Illinois Bloodhounds Help Find and Rescue Missing Man
The Illinois bloodhounds of the Winnebago County Sheriff’s Office K-9 Unit have helped find and rescue a 69 year-old-man who had been missing nearly a day. The missing man is alive thanks to the teamwork of the WCSO K-9 Unit and Scent Evidence K9’s, Paul Coley. Here’s the Winnebago County Sheriff’s Office Press Release.
Winnebago County Sheriff’s Office Press Release
ON THURSDAY JULY 25, 2019 AT APPROXIMATELY 12:01 PM WINNEBAGO COUNTY SHERIFF’S DEPUTIES RESPONDED TO THE 10400 BLOCK OF BANYAN DRIVE, MACHESNEY PARK, ILLINOIS FOR A REPORT OF A MISSING ADULT. A 69-YEAR-OLD MALE WITH MEDICAL ISSUES HAD WANDERED FROM HOME AND WAS LAST SEEN AT 8:30 WEDNESDAY NIGHT.
THE SHERIFF’S DEPARTMENT K-9 UNIT ALSO RESPONDED TO THE SCENE. THE MALE SUBJECT’S SCENT WAS COLLECTED FROM THE HOME AND THE K-9 UNIT DEPLOYED BLOODHOUNDS ON THE NOW 17 HOUR OLD TRAIL. SCENT EVIDENCE K-9, WHO ORIGINALLY TRAINED THE HOUNDS, ASSISTED THE UNIT VIA PHONE WITH THE COORDINATION OF INTEGRATED SEARCH STRATEGIES AND REMOTE GEOGRAPHICAL OVERWATCH. TWO BLOODHOUNDS BROUGHT THE SEARCH TEAM TO AN AREA NEAR OLD RALSTON ROAD AND THE WEST SERVICE DRIVE OF NORTH SECOND STREET. THE MISSING MAN WAS LOCATED LAYING IN A BEAN FIELD IN THAT AREA NEAR A TREE LINE. HARLEM ROSCOE FIRE DEPARTMENT RESPONDED AND TRANSPORTED THE SUBJECT TO SWEDISH AMERICAN HOSPITAL FOR TREATMENT.
Scent Evidence K9 Helps Guide the Search Using Missing Person Response Protocol
While the WCSO K-9 Team worked the case on the ground with Scent Evidence K9 CEO, Paul Coley provided overwatch and recon of the search area from his Tallahassee office in real-time. During the deployment, Paul used his new Missing Person Response Protocol to help guide the search. The Missing Person Response Protocol was developed by Coley to help responders achieve higher success rates during searches and has been endorsed by the Florida State University Emergency Management and Homeland Security Department. Paul was in communication with WCSO investigators during the search when the team located the man in a heavily wooded bean field. “The Protocol is quickly making believers within law enforcement agencies who are looking to implement integrated search strategies the way we did with WCSO,” said Coley.
Integrated Search Strategies played an important role in the successful location of the missing man. WCSO not only has 3 scent discriminate bloodhounds in their Unit but they also have a new tool developed by Scent Evidence K9 called The SEKR. The SEKR allows the handlers to collect and store a better scent article from practically any source and helps eliminate the potential for contamination. “Our law enforcement partners have collected scent from used needles, taser darts, and cellphones and successfully located their targets,” said Coley.
WCSO also promotes the use of Scent Preservation Kits®. The Scent Kit was developed by Scent Evidence K9 to give responders the best possible scent article to trail. The kit allows a person to pre-collect their unique odor before they get lost or go missing. A person can’t lose their scent and to a trained K-9 it’s as identifiable as their fingerprint. Watch WCSO demonstrate the Scent Preservation Kit HERE.
Illinois Bloodhounds Find Missing Man Media Links
The life-saving find was covered by several Rockford Illinois area news outlets. here are the links.
https://www.rrstar.com/news/20190726/winnebago-county-sheriffs-bloodhounds-track-missing-machesney-park-man
https://www.wifr.com/content/news/Bloodhounds-help-locate-missing-Machesney-Park-man-513274541.html
National Night Out – Scent Preservation Kit®
The Scent Preservation Kit® is the perfect giveaway for your department’s National Night Out event on August 6. The kits help create missing person awareness and improve missing person response for people with Alzheimer’s Disease or Autism who are at high risk of wandering.
To order Scent Preservation Kits for your communities National Night Out event contact [email protected] or call 850-272-6950
