ABOUT
Scent Evidence K9 Mission and Vision
Our mission is to provide effective response systems and services that enable families, communities, and organizations to find missing persons and bring them home safely. We have partnered with law enforcement and community leaders to implement scent discriminate K-9 trailing products and services across the U.S. and Internationally.
The FBI National Crime Information Center reported that 546,568 people were reported missing in 2022. More than 65% of those reported missing were children (359,094).
A key approach in achieving this mission is by developing proactive family safety measures like The Scent Preservation Kit® and helping communities focus on providing services to the most vulnerable populations with greater risk of becoming a missing person. Two vulnerable populations found in most communities are children with autism spectrum disorder and persons with Alzheimer’s Disease and dementia.
According to the Center for Disease Control, one in 68 children have been diagnosed with autism spectrum disorders (ASD). A study completed by the American Pediatric Association states that almost 50% of these diagnosed children will go missing at least once before the age of 17. Based on recent studies, the number of individuals diagnosed with dementia will increase to 7.1 million in the USA by 2025. This is an increase of 40%. Studies have shown that 6 out 10 individuals with dementia will become lost. In Florida alone, there are over 580,000 diagnosed with Alzheimer’s Disease and that number is expected to grow to 720,000 by 2025.
At Scent Evidence K9, we believe that these heartbreaking statistics are much more than just numbers on a page. We believe that every missing person is important and deserves the best resources available to search for them.
The Scent Evidence K9 vision is that every community across the country and around the world will have innovative and integrated response systems in place to find missing persons and return them to safety.
Our Story
CEO, Paul Coley, is a former FBI Forensic Canine Operations Specialist and has dedicated his entire career to public service in the fields of education, law enforcement, criminal justice, investigations, forensics, and emergency management.
Paul founded Scent Evidence K9 in 2012 to help communities and law enforcement agencies improve their methods of locating missing persons. Like many other canine handlers, Paul faced the challenge of finding an effective scent article during deployments. He developed the first scientifically-tested and proven Scent Preservation Kit® and “The SEKR” Scent Evidence Collection Vacuum to provide K9 Trailing responders with uncontaminated scent articles and on-scene scent collection methods that increase location success while reducing the time it takes to find a target.
Paul also created the first standardized Human Scent Discriminate and Scent Detection K9 Training programs that provide world-class scent discriminate K9’s and training for law enforcement handlers and professional SAR Teams across the U.S. and internationally.
Scent Evidence K9 is pioneering the integration of UAS/drone technology into the K9 Trailing process with the Florida State University Emergency Management and Homeland Security Department. The use of drone overwatch during search deployments creates greater environmental visibility and safer working conditions for handlers and dogs. Paul has also developed the 3-Step Missing Person Response Protocol program that has been endorsed by the FSU EMHS department and is TN-POST certified.
By partnering with community organizations that serve populations at high risk of wandering and going missing, such as those with Alzheimer’s Disease, Dementia, and Autism, Coley has provided new public safety solutions for communities, families, and caregivers to prepare at-risk individuals before they go missing. In 2019, Scent Evidence partnered with Alzheimer’s Project to pass the Bringing the Lost Home Project bill in Florida to increase awareness and improve missing person response.
For more information visit ScentEvidenceK9.com or contact us at [email protected] or 850-272-6950.