Deputies employed an uncommon strategy to locate a young boy’s home after discovering him wandering alone on a road in North Carolina.
On July 7, the Union County Sheriff’s Office in Monroe, North Carolina, responded to a 911 report from a bystander who noticed a child walking alone on a road in a residential suburban neighborhood.
When officers arrived at Waxhaw Indian Trail Road, they couldn’t find the child’s residence or guardians due to his autism and non-verbal status. The sheriff’s office then deployed the K-9 unit, featuring bloodhound Remi and his handler, Deputy B. Belk, to assist in the search.
They experimented with an unconventional approach, known as a “reverse” K-9 track. Lieutenant Public Information Officer James Maye noted that this method is atypical for police dogs, who usually track a person from their last known location to their current whereabouts. This time, however, they reversed the process, tracking from the current location back to where the person originally left.
Belk utilized a clean piece of gauze to gather the boy’s scent from his forearms and the back of his neck.
After catching a scent from the boy, Remi the bloodhound quickly guided him back home in just 15 minutes, covering a distance of about half a mile to a nearby neighborhood.
Deputies swiftly reunited a six-year-old child with his family after arriving on the scene. When the authorities got there, they found the garage door of the house ajar. The young boy quietly slipped out of the home without his parents noticing.
They concluded there was no criminal activity and advised the family on preventing similar incidents in the future.
Maye shared that Remi, who is only one year old, has been with the department since he was a puppy. The sheriff’s office canine handler provided internal training for Remi.
People recognize bloodhounds for their exceptional sense of smell and their skill in differentiating between human scents. This makes them highly effective tracking dogs for law enforcement. People have utilized their tracking capabilities since the Middle Ages, showcasing their long history of service in locating individuals.
Evidence shows that Remi and other dogs have used this tracking method successfully. The program will now include it in future K-9 training.
Maye remarked, ‘In my 10 to 12 years of experience, I’ve never encountered anything quite like this. This training isn’t usually part of their program, but going forward, they will definitely incorporate it into their training.
Union County Sheriff Eddie Cathey praised the officers for reuniting the child with their family through their hard work. He specifically acknowledged Deputy Belk and his bloodhound, Remi, for their outstanding contributions to the investigation.
