2024 is almost in the books and we would like to thank all of our Bringing The Lost Home law enforcement agency and community organization partners across the country for their commitment to scent discriminate K9 trailing excellence. 51 handlers from 8 states (FL, TN, GA, CA, WI, TX, NC, and NY) reported 150 finds to us via our deployment report form. 93 were missing person recoveries and 57 were criminal suspect locations. The amazing trailing work by our partners helped us reach 2 important milestones in 2024. Our Florida Bringing The Lost Home partners surpassed the 400 Find mark and our International Finds topped 700! 2 K9 Teams tied for First Place in our Top Dog 2024 list. Angela Keller/K9 Wyatt from Orange County Sheriff’s Office (FL) and Josh Pressley/K9 Becka from Banks County Sheriff’s Office (GA) each had an impressive 23 finds in 2024. Here is the full Top Dog 2024 list of top performing Scent Evidence K9 partner K9 Teams.
15. Alan Weinreb/Tupelo – 3 – La Verne Police Dept., CA
We congratulate all of our Bringing The Lost Home partners for the hard work and service they provide to their communities. Many lives were saved in 2024 thanks to you! Here are a few K9 trailing highlights from 2024! Follow our Facebook and Instagram pages to check out the upcoming K9 finds in 2025.
Orange County Sheriff’s Office Bloodhound Team Achieves 400th K9 Find for Florida Bringing The Lost Home Program Partners!
Dep. Angela Keller and K9 Wyatt, a scent discriminate Bloodhound and Scent Evidence K9 alumni, reported finds #400 and #401 with their latest deployment report. This is the 20th K9 find of 2024 for the superstar Florida Bloodhound Team. Since receiving K9 Wyatt through a donation by The Senior Resource Alliance, the dynamic duo has worked up an impressive list of suspect locations and missing person recoveries.
“Dep. Keller and K9 Wyatt have trained with us for the past 3 years and they utilized their advanced scent discriminate trailing and scent collection techniques to help achieve this important milestone for the Bringing The Lost Home Program in Florida. Lives have been saved and the Orange County community is safer because of their hard work and dedication to the job,” stated Scent Evidence K9 CEO, Paul Coley.
Banks County GA Bloodhound Team Locates Endangered Man Missing For 3 Days!
On October 21, 2024, Corporal Pressley and K9 Becka, a scent discriminate Bloodhound, were contacted by investigators working on a missing persons case in Banks County GA. The information available was that the 49-year-old male with physical, medical, and possible psychological disabilities had not been heard from in three days. Evidence on scene suggested the missing man may have walked into the wooded area behind his residence on Friday, October 18. Corporal Pressley responded to the scene and collected odor from the subject’s bedding using an SEK9 Scent Kit and the absorption method. K9 Becka was deployed in the back yard of the residence and established a trail leading into an overgrown area. Becka trailed past a shoe and two vapes and continued into an area overgrown with kudzu. Becka trailed through the kudzu across areas that were obviously pushed down. Becka trailed past a single $1.00 bill lying in the kudzu and then over a red t-shirt. After making a few loops in the kudzu, K9 Becka pulled through briars so dense that they had to crawl approximately 50 yards into more open woods. The trail led to the left down the hill toward a large creek. Becka continued along the bank of the creek occasionally pulling into the water. The trail led the same direction as the water flow for about a half mile (walking distance weaving in and out of brush and water was approximately 2 miles). After trailing to an area under a bridge on Hwy 441 the trail was called to give K9 Becka a break. Becka showed strong interest in the water and far side of the creek pulling back upstream. After the break, the K9 team relocated back to the residence and redeployed. After showing the same behavior Becka was cast further downhill to the right of the original trail with the intent to check the immediate area more thoroughly and attempting to pick up on any trails leading back upstream on the far side of the creek. As they worked the hillside, K9 Becka gave a sudden change in behavior and began trailing downhill towards the creek. Becka pulled hard down the hill for about 200 yards and located the missing man lying down beside the creek. The man was able to sit up as they approached. K9 Becka pulled to him and gave a positive alert by sitting beside him with her tail wagging. EMS were notified and family members were able to reach the scene with an ATV for extraction. The man was found covered from head to toe in scratches with visible injury to multiple parts of the body and appeared to be dehydrated and hypothermic. K9 Becka was rewarded with excited praise and dog treats. Temperatures overnight from Friday through Sunday were in the high 30’s-low 40’s. The subject did not know how many nights he had been in the woods. This is the Banks County GA Bloodhound Team’s second find in just over a week.
Find #30 for K9 Keva! California Bloodhound Locates Missing Man Who Had Fallen into a Creek!
San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Dep. Gabe Jasso and K9 Keva, a Scent Evidence K9 alumni, were called to assist the SBCSD Central Station in locating a critical missing adult on 8/21/24. The missing person had walked away from his residence the night before. The trail was 15.5 hours old when Dep. Jasso and K9 Keva arrived on the scene and began trailing from the residence. K9 Keva quickly got to work pulling towards a creek that ran through the property towards the main house. Keva began wagging her tail, gave a short loud bark and began dancing around. Dep. Jasso looked down the steep ravine into the creek and located the missing man no more than 200 yards from his residence. Deputies quickly ran back to the unit to grab a climbing rope and hoisted the missing person out of the creek and ravine.
Jax Sheriff’s Office Bloodhound Team Finds 2 Missing Persons in 24 Hours!
Dep. Anthony Yannuzzi and K9 Patriot were fresh off their recovery of a missing woman with dementia using a Scent Kit when they were called to help locate a missing 7-year-old who had run away after an argument. The neighborhood was poorly lit, and they were advised that the child may not be able to find his way home. Dep. Yannuzzi collected a scent article from the residence and deployed K9 Patriot. The Florida Bloodhound Team trailed the child’s scent down several sidewalks, crossed the road and trailed into a backyard of a residence. K9 Patriot reached the bank of a large pond along the back of the residences where they spotted the missing child on a playground in the yard. The missing child was reunited with his family and K9 Patriot was rewarded with praise and his favorite toy for the second time that day! This is Find #9 for the Jax SO K9 Team!
TN Bloodhound Team Uses SEKR Scent Evidence Vacuum to Locate Suspect Missing For 2.5 Days!
Putnam Co. Sheriff’s Dep. Jake Dronebarger and K9 Iris, a Scent Evidence K9 alumni, responded to help locate a criminal suspect who had stolen a patrol vehicle on 6/30/24. On 7/2/24 the suspect broke into a home and held the residents at knifepoint. The suspect attempted to take a hostage and then stole a cell phone. Dep. Dronebarger used the SEKR Scent Evidence Vacuum to collect a scent article and presented it to K9 Iris, a scent discriminate Bloodhound. The Tennessee Bloodhound Team trailed roughly ¾ mile through heavily wooded, steep terrain. K9 Iris trailed up a steep hillside to a barn where the suspect was attempting to steal a vehicle. The suspect was taken into custody without incident. The search deployment took 45 minutes.
K9 Daisy Does It Again! Two Finds in One Week!
St. Johns County Sheriff’s Dep. Melanie Merritt and K9 Daisy Mae responded to help locate a suspect who ran from a traffic stop. The suspect was last seen jumping a fence. Several deputies were already searching the area when the Florida Bloodhound team arrived on the scene. Dep. Merritt collected a scent article from the seat of the suspect’s vehicle and deployed K9 Daisy on the other side of the fence. K9 Daisy immediately started trailing through a parking lot, making several turns as she continued to work the wood line in a wet marsh area near the parking lot. K9 Daisy gave a proximity alert and located the suspect lying in the marsh. The suspect was taken into custody without incident.
5 days earlier Merritt and Daisy located a burglary suspect in only 8 minutes!
California Bloodhound Team Finds Second Missing Woman with Alzheimer’s in One Month!
La Verne Police Officer Alan Weinreb and K9 Tupelo, a Scent Evidence K9 alumni, responded to a call where a 79-year-old woman with dementia had wandered away on 6/1/24. The trail was 4 hours old when the California Bloodhound Team began the search. K9 Tupelo trailed 1.22 miles to locate the woman safe! This is the second missing person recovery for Ofc. Weinreb and K9 Tupelo in one month. On 5/3/24, Weinreb and K9 Tupelo located another elderly woman with dementia who had wandered from her residence.
East Tennessee Bloodhound Team Finds Missing Endangered Youth!
Jonesborough Police Officer Adam Depew and K9 Daryl recently responded to a call involving a missing endangered teen. Ofc. Depew used the SEKR Scent Evidence Vacuum to collect the scent article and deployed K9 Daryl. K9 Daryl, a scent discriminate Bloodhound and Scent Evidence K9 alumni, trailed through thick wooded areas and urban environments and located the missing youth safe in only 25 minutes.
Leon County Sheriff’s Office Bloodhound Team Helps Locate Missing Endangered Person!
LCSO Dep. Lewis Kurtz and K9 Rex deployed to help find a missing endangered person on 4/22/24. K9 Rex recently joined the LCSO K9 Unit, and this was the first deployment for the Florida Bloodhound Team. The person had been missing for 4 hours. Dep. Kurtz used a SEK9 Scent Kit to collect the scent article and presented it to Rex. K9 Rex trailed .25 miles to a nearby parking lot. The trail later confirmed evidence that the missing person had been picked up in a vehicle in the parking lot.
“Dep. Kurtz and K9 Rex have been training with Scent Evidence K9 for a couple of months and we are proud that their first deployment confirmed evidence that helped responders locate the individual,” stated Scent Evidence K9 CEO, Paul Coley. K9 Rex and the advanced scent discriminate training and handler certification for Dep. Kurtz was provided through the Kevin and Avonte grant. The federal grant was awarded to The Alzheimer’s Project Inc. in Tallahassee to enhance K9 locative technology and missing person response for individuals who are at risk of wandering. The Kevin and Avonte grant also provides missing person awareness campaigns and Scent Kits to the community to help protect those at risk.
New Hanover County Bloodhound Team Uses The SEKR To Locate Missing Endangered Juvenile!
Master Dep. Sheriff Glen Pedersen and K9 Honey, a Scent Evidence K9 alumni, responded to help locate a missing endangered runaway on 11/25/24. The youth was last seen approx. 90 minutes prior to the New Hanover County Sheriff’s Office K9 Team arriving on the scene. MDS Pedersen used the SEKR Scent Evidence Vacuum to collect a scent article from a recently discarded article of clothing from the missing juvenile. Pedersen deployed K9 Honey and the scent discriminate Bloodhound trailed .5 miles where they spotted the missing youth walking towards them.
California Bloodhound Team Finds Critical Missing Person with Dementia!
On Wed. Nov. 20, Dep. Nathan Bakker and K9 Naji of the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Dept., responded to help locate a missing person suffering from dementia who had wandered away from a residence in Twentynine Palms. The person had been missing for 4 hours when they arrived on the scene. Dep. Bakker obtained a scent article from the residence and presented it to K9 Naji, a scent discriminate Bloodhound and Scent Evidence K9 alumni. K9 Naji trailed along a busy highway for approximately 1.2 miles and located the missing person sitting at a bus stop.
Florida Bloodhound Team Helps Find Endangered Woman Missing for 18 Hours!
On Feb. 22, 2024, Lee County Sheriff’s Deputy Robert Elwell and K9 Remington, a scent discriminate Bloodhound, responded to a call regarding an endangered woman who had been missing since the previous night. Dep. Elwell used a Scent Evidence K9 Scent Kit to collect a scent article from the woman’s pillow at her residence. Dep. Elwell presented the Scent Jar to K9 Remington, and they began trailing east from the residence along a sidewalk. They continued trailing to a parking lot next to a church. Fort Myers PD entered the parking lot and observed the missing woman. K9 Remington continued trailing up to the woman and was praised for locating her.
Putnam County Sheriff’s Office Bloodhound Team Starts 2024 by Finding 2 Endangered Persons!
Sgt. Emmett Merritt and K9 Grace started the new year off with 2 successful trails to locate endangered persons in the first half of January. Sgt. Merritt used his advanced scent discriminate K9 trailing skills to collect scent articles in both cases which led K9 Grace to quick locations of the missing persons.
Buster Does It Again! Escambia Co Sheriff’s Office K9 Team locates missing endangered person.
Dep. Touchstone and K9 Buster, a scent discriminate Beagle, responded to help find a missing endangered adult on 12/8/24. The person had been missing for 45 min. K9 Buster trailed the scent article .3 miles to locate the individual. Dep. Touchstone and K9 Buster have been hot on the trail since training with Scent Evidence K9 and Bay County Sheriff’s Office a few weeks ago, with multiple missing person finds.
Osceola County Sheriff’s Deputy Benjamin Herron with K9 Doc and Senior Resource Alliance CEO Karla Radka
