Massachusetts State Police K9 teams find three missing persons in three-day stretch

According to Massachusetts State Police, in one recent three-day stretch, K9s Barry, Bear and Caber — and their human partners — located three vulnerable missing persons.

On June 23, just before noon, Trooper Nicholas D’Angelo and his partner Barry responded to assist Bolton Police with a search for a missing elderly woman with Alzheimer’s who had walked from a driveway into the woods next to her home. Trooper D’Angelo requested the woman’s pillowcase and placed it down at the location where the woman was last seen to allow his dog to get the woman’s scent. The Trooper then deployed Barry, who immediately acquired a track. Barry tracked approximately 15 yards into the woods and alerted in an area of large, dense overgrown bushes. Trooper D’Angelo secured Barry, looked into the thick vegetation, and saw the missing woman crouched deep inside the overgrowth. The woman was not visible from the road or driveway. The woman was taken out of the woods and EMS responded to provide medical care.

On June 25, in the very early morning, Trooper Taylor Powers and partner Bear responded to Marlborough to help local police search for a man who had run off after trying to kill himself. Trooper Powers deployed Bear at the intersection where he was last seen, and Bear began tracking along Lincoln Street in Marlborough. As the Trooper and Bear came up to the intersection with Mechanic Street, the man jumped out of some bushes in a yard and began to run off again. Troopers and Marlborough Officers pursued on foot and secured the man a short distance away. EMS responded and transported the man to a hospital.

On June 25, the same day, Huntington Police requested a K9 team to help search for a missing elderly man. Trooper Matthew Baird and partner Caber responded, as did members of the State Police Special Emergency Response Team and Troop B Community Action Team. The missing man was known to frequently walk trails in nearby woods, and a cell phone ping placed the man about a half-mile away in a wooded and swampy area. Trooper Baird obtained the man’s pillowcase and used it to provide Caber with the man’s scent. As they began working along a dirt road leading toward the woods, Caber displayed odor recognition. They continued onto a trail toward large swamps. Meanwhile, an updated ping showed the man’s phone to now be about a half-mile to the northeast, and the terrain to reach that area included no roads or prominent trails. Trooper Baird and Caber worked through the area in a northeast direction. Eventually Caber showed tracking behavior and continued through the woods for several hundred more yards to a cart road. Caber pulled down the cart road and showed an increase in tracking intensity. As the Trooper and dog approached a trail intersection, Trooper Baird observed the missing man walking ahead of their position. The man reported that he was lost and thirsty. MSP K9 Trooper John Areche and his dog Tucker, who had responded as backup, linked up with Trooper Baird and Caber and helped escort the man out of the woods. EMS transported the man to a hospital for a precautionary evaluation.