Find #1100 for Scent Evidence K9 Partners!

Find #1100 for Scent Evidence K9 Partners! Dep. Devin Abernethy and his new 11-month-old Bloodhound partner K9 Nexus of Brunswick County Sheriff’s Office responded to help locate an endangered adult who had been missing for 3 hours on 6/6/26. Dep. Abernethy used the SEKR Scent Evidence Vacuum to collect a scent article and presented it to K9 Nexus. Nexus trailed to a heavily wooded area and continued to an opening in the woods. Nexus exhibited a proximity alert, and the presence of the North Carolina Bloodhound Team caused the missing person to respond. The endangered person was checked out by EMS and transported to the hospital for further treatment.

This is the first find by Dep. Abernethy and K9 Nexus since completing their scent discriminate training in Tallahassee with Scent Evidence K9 in April. “We are as proud as Dep. Abernethy is on getting his first find with K9 Nexus. They used their scent discriminate trailing and advanced scent collection training to find the missing person fast and get them the help they needed,” stated SEK9 CEO Paul Coley.

This is also the 1100th find reported to Scent Evidence K9 by our amazing Agency Partners across the country! Great Trail Dep. Abernethy and K9 Nexus! Thanks to Brunswick County Sheriff’s Office for their commitment to creating a safer community! BCSO K9 Handlers had many finds that contributed to this milestone!

Thanks to all of our Scent Evidence K9 partners who contributed to the 1100 Find Milestone! Several searches are from new Bloodhound Teams with SEK9 dogs that are under a year old. Here are the highlights.

K9 Honey Finds Missing 91-Year-Old Woman with Alzheimer’s! Master Deputy Glen Pedersen and K9 Honey of the New Hanover County Sheriff’s Office responded to help locate a missing elderly woman who had wandered away from her car 3 hours prior on 2-6-26. The scent discriminate Bloodhound team had just hours earlier wrapped up a week of training at the North Carolina Regional Scent Discriminate K9 Trailing Seminar with Scent Evidence K9 CEO Paul Coley. MD Pedersen used the SEKR Scent Evidence Vacuum to collect a scent article from the vehicle’s door. Pedersen presented the Scent Jar to K9 Honey and deployed. There were unconfirmed reports that the woman had entered a nearby Harris Teeters. K9 Honey trailed to the front door of the store but showed no interest. The store’s video footage then confirmed the woman had not entered the building. K9 Honey, a Scent Evidence K9 trained Bloodhound, continued to work the front of the store and then trailed into the woods towards a street. As K9 Honey approached the street, a 911 call came in about a woman lying in front of a garage just ahead of the Bloodhound team. K9 Honey continued trailing to the missing elderly woman and was rewarded for her excellent trailing work!

Scent Evidence K9 CEO Paul Coley and SEK9 trainer Austin Fuller were on their way to dinner with Pedersen after the trailing seminar when the call came in and deployed with them on the search. “MD Pedersen and K9 Honey did a great job of utilizing all of the components of the Bringing The Lost Home System on the case. They used their advanced scent discriminate K9 trailing skills to quickly find the elderly woman who had wandered away on a cold night. Glen used his knowledge of scent collection technology like the SEKR vacuum to get the best possible scent article to deploy with and his search response protocol training to determine and verify that the woman had not entered the store. This deployment represents why all of our North Carolina K9 Teams worked so hard this week to enhance their trailing skills, save lives, and Bring The Lost Home,” stated Coley.

Great Trail MD Pedersen and K9 Honey! The North Carolina Bloodhound Team have many missing person recoveries and suspect locations to their credit and made our Top Dogs (and Handlers) list for 2025! Thanks to the New Hanover County Sheriff’s Office for their commitment to creating a safer community. 60% or 3 in 5 people with dementia will wander. This is just one of the many successful searches by MD Pedersen and K9 Honey that helped us achieve #1100!

Keva and Naji making the news after their amazing location of a critical missing woman who fell down a 200 foot ravine! Great Job Dep. Bakkar and Dep Jasso! Every second mattered. A missing, vulnerable adult with a traumatic brain injury walked away from home and didn’t return. K9 Naji set the track. K9 Keva took it the distance—leading deputies down a half-mile trail and into a steep ravine, leading to the missing person. Deputies located her, and due to the terrain and her condition, an air rescue hoist was initiated. Teamwork, training, and determination made the difference. Click HERE for the news article.

Bloodhound K9 Harley Locates Missing Endangered Person for First Find! Orange County Sheriff’s Deputy Jonmark Rodriguez and K9 Harley, a 9-month-old scent discriminate Bloodhound, responded to a call to help locate a missing endangered person who left a hospital on 4/12/26 and fled into a residential area. Dep. Rodriguez and K9 Harley had just attended the Bringing The Lost Home Program Seminar in Orlando 3 days prior where the new Bloodhound team trained with SEK9 CEO Paul Coley to enhance their K9 trailing and missing person response skills. K9 Harley trailed .5 miles to locate the person hiding inside a house that was under construction.

K9 Harley was donated to OCSO by Senior Resource Alliance in Orlando via the Kevin and Avonte grant to increase available search resources in the area for missing persons who are at high risk of wandering. Dep. Rodriguez and K9 Harley completed their initial scent discriminate training 2 months ago at Scent Evidence K9 headquarters in Tallahassee. Congrats on your first find and thanks to Orange County Sheriff’s Office, Florida and Senior Resource Alliance – SRA Florida for their commitment to creating a safer community.

St. Johns County Sheriff’s Office Bloodhound Team Gets First Find! Dep. Garrett Shaughnessy and K9 Rex, a Scent Evidence K9 Bloodhound, responded to help locate an injured and intoxicated driver after they ran from the scene of a vehicle crash. Dep. Shaughnessy used the absorption method to collect a scent article and deployed approximately 40 minutes after the crash. The St. Johns County Bloodhound Team trailed 430 yards and located the driver lying in a ditch unconscious.

“We recently had the honor of training with Dep. Shaughnessy and K9 Rex and they are going to be a productive scent discriminate trailing team for their community.“ stated Scent Evidence K9 CEO Paul Coley.

Congrats on getting your first find Dep. Shaughnessy and K9 Rex and thanks to our Florida Bringing The Lost Home Program partners at St. Johns County Sheriff’s Office for their commitment to creating a safer community.

World Autism Acceptance Month Story of the Day! British Columbia Scent Trailing K9 Team Locates Missing 4-Year-Old with Autism. On 4/7/26 a vacationing family lost sight of their 4-year-old with autism when the child bolted into the woods after being approached by a dog while hiking. The father remembered seeing a sign on the way to their trailing spot. Fortunately for the family, the sign belonged to Jessica Tuomela, owner of the scent trailing company True North Canine. The father of the nonverbal child on the autism spectrum requested immediate assistance from Jessica and her scent discriminate partner K9 Lucy after the child eloped from a gravel parking lot into an unfamiliar wooded trail system. The area contained extensive trails, dense forest, and numerous water hazards, increasing urgency. Jessica, a top-ranked Paralympian Triathlete and K9 Lucy have multiple missing person recoveries and quickly responded due to the potential danger to the child. Jessica is blind and typically trails with backup handlers but made the decision to trail alone with Lucy because of her familiarity with the trailing system, time sensitivity, and the high risks of nearby water sources that children with autism are often drawn to.

Jessica collected a scent article from the child’s car seat using the absorption method she learned during her training with Scent Evidence K9 CEO Paul Coley. She followed her response protocol measures and dismissed the family members who had been in contact with the car seat. Jessica then presented the scent jar to K9 Lucy and deployed from the place where the child was last seen. Lucy began trailing with confidence along the main trail. She continued 150 meters before making a decisive right turn across a metal/grated bridge over moving water. Lucy maintained speed and commitment and followed the trail left and uphill for 200 meters through rocks, roots, and slippery mud. While moving at speed, Lucy abruptly stopped, kicking up dirt, and immediately diverted right into dense, low evergreen brush. The child was located lying under the bushes. The nonverbal child had initially run into the woods because of a known fear of dogs. Lucy gave a sit-alert to identify the target and then gently laid across the child’s legs. The child responded affectionately and even held the harness and petted Lucy on their walk back to the family vehicle. The trail length was .65 miles and Jess and Lucy ran the trail in only 6.5 minutes thanks to their athletic training.

“This is impressive scent discriminate K9 trailing work on so many levels. Jessica and Lucy have worked hard to develop their trailing skills and have multiple lifesaving recoveries of people with autism and Alzheimer’s Disease who are at high risk of wandering. They are truly inspirational and we are honored to train with them,” stated Coley. The American Pediatric Association states that 50% of children on the spectrum will wander at least once before age 17. Having a Scent Kit prepared in advance can help responders find them fast and bring them home safe. Learn More HERE.

Escambia County Sheriff’s Office K9 Team Has 2 Successful Search Deployments in 1 Week to Reach Trail #600 and #601 by Florida Bringing The Lost Home Program Agencies! Dep. Kathryn Touchstone and K9 Buster reached and surpassed the milestone with their help in the location and safe recovery of a missing person with Alzheimer’s Disease and a missing 4-year-old child in the same week.

Dep. Touchstone and K9 Buster are one of our top performing K9 Trailing Teams in the country and attended the 6th Annual Bringing The Lost Home Summit in Tallahassee. They were the #3 Team in our 2025 Top Dogs (and Handlers) list with 10 Finds for the year! Two more great trails for the Dynamic Duo of Dep. Touchstone and K9 Buster! Read the article HERE.

Newton County Sheriff’s Office K9 Teams Use SEKR Vacuum and Search Response Protocol Training to Help Locate Missing Endangered Juvenile! On 2/17/26 Newton County K9 Teams were dispatched to search for a missing 15-year-old who needed medication. The juvenile had been missing for over 7 hours. Deputies used The SEKR Scent Evidence Vacuum to collect a scent article from the teen’s bed sheet. Dep. Franklin presented the scent article to K9 Gotto and began trailing to the front of the subdivision where the youth lived. Patrol divisions continued ahead of the K9 making contacts with residents and confirming that a person matching the description of the missing juvenile walking in the direction of K9 Gotto’s trail. Dep. Wright and K9 Maeve, a Scent Evidence K9 trained Bloodhound, took over the trail and continued for another mile. Dep. Pope and K9 Sadie arrived on the scene to take over and resume the trail. Patrol deputies continued ahead of the Georgia K9 teams to confirm the youth’s direction of travel and accuracy of the K9 trails with resident contacts along the way. The juvenile was soon located ahead of the K9 teams and was evaluated by EMS.

Newton County Sheriff’s Office trained with Scent Evidence K9 CEO Paul Coley in January. “The K9 teams followed their missing person search response protocol training and utilized advanced scent collection techniques to help determine the direction of travel that led to the location of the missing youth. We are proud of our partnership with Newton County Sheriff’s Office and honored to work with them in their commitment to saving lives and creating a safer community,“ stated Scent Evidence K9 CEO, Paul Coley.

Newton County, GA Sheriff’s Office was awarded The Kevin and Avonte Program: Reducing Injury and Death of Missing Individuals with Dementia and Developmental Disabilities grant that provides Scent Discriminate K9 Trailing and Response Protocol training to the NCSO K9 Teams and first responders.

Putnam County Sheriff’s Office Bloodhound Team locates missing man with dementia in TN! Great Trail Sgt. Dronebarger and our very own K9 Iris! He used the SEKR Scent Evidence Vacuum to collect a scent article used to save the missing man’s life!

Read the article HERE.

Bloodhound K9 Duchess Has Second Find for Kissimmee Police Dept. Ofc. Kyle Bywater and K9 Duchess, a Scent Evidence K9 trained Bloodhound, responded to help locate a missing man who had wandered from a vacation home on 3/17/26. The man had autism, was non- verbal and had been missing for 50 minutes. Ofc. Bywater used the absorption method to collect a scent article from the man’s toothbrush. Bywater, a K9 Hander with the Marine Unit of Kissimmee PD, presented the Scent Jar to K9 Duchess who trailed to another vacation home across the street. As the Florida Bloodhound team walked to the front door to ring the doorbell, the homeowner informed them that the missing man was inside. Duchess continued her trail through the living room and identified that she had found the target by sitting next to the man.

Charlotte County Sheriff’s Office Bloodhound Team Uses Nose on the Ground and Eyes In the Sky to Quickly Locate Missing Teen in Freezing Temps. Cpl. Steven Sella and K9 Zoe, a Scent Evidence K9 trained Bloodhound responded to a disturbance on 2-1-26 involving a 17-year-old juvenile who fled a supervised residence on foot. Due to the juvenile’s age and circumstances, an immediate search effort was initiated. The youth left out of the rear of the residence through a window. The temperature outside was only 32 degrees.

Cpl. Sella and K-9 Zoe deployed after collecting a scent article belonging to the missing juvenile. K-9 Zoe began trailing from the rear of the property and continued through surrounding streets toward a nearby park. During the track, K-9 Zoe lifted her head, at which time an aerial drone that had been launched, quickly identifying movement consistent with an individual attempting to conceal themselves just outside the park. Shortly thereafter, the juvenile fled on foot into the park. K-9 Zoe immediately re-engaged the trail and continued working through the park as deputies coordinated a perimeter.

As the search progressed, the drone provided updated overhead intelligence, allowing ground units to anticipate the juvenile’s movement. The juvenile was walking right back towards Cpl. Sella and K-9 Zoe. K-9 Zoe gave a strong proximity alert near a walkway that led to a Gazebo in the park, and deputies made visual contact with the juvenile, who was taken into custody safely and without incident. This successful outcome highlighted K-9 Zoe and the aerial drone technology working in collaboration together leading to a safe and successful outcome.

Cpl. Sella is a Scent Evidence K9 Master Handler with dozens of missing person recoveries and suspect locations to his credit and was the #2 Top Performing K9 Team in our Top Dogs (and Handlers) list for 2025. Charlotte County Sheriff’s Office is a long-time participating Florida Bringing The Lost Home Program and Kevin and Avonte grant partner.

Lee County Sheriff’s Office Bloodhound Team Locates Missing Endangered 78-Year-Old! Dep. Robert Elwell and K9 Remington responded to help locate an elderly man with a neurocognitive disorder on 1/28/26. After an exhaustive large-scale, multi-agency search throughout the day and overnight, the missing man was located safe thanks to the incredible scent discriminate trailing efforts of Dep. Elwell and Bloodhound partner K9 Remington. The elderly man was located in thick foliage and transported to a local hospital where his condition was reported as stable.

Dep. Elwell is a Scent Evidence K9 Master Handler with dozens of missing person recoveries and suspect locations to his credit. Lee County Sheriff’s Office is a Florida Bringing The Lost Home Program partner agency and posted an amazing video of highlights from the search and location on their Facebook page. Great Trail Dep. Elwell and K9 Remington and thanks to Lee County Sheriff’s Office for their commitment to creating a safer community and Bringing The Lost Home! CLICK HERE for the video footage of the find.

THANK YOU to our incredible Bringing The Lost Home Partners for the work you do every day to keep your community safe. To see more of their stories visit and follow our Facebook or Instagram pages.